A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

by George R.R. Martin

NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES—THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
 
Here is the first book in the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and become a modern masterpiece.

A GAME OF THRONES
 
In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the North of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
 
A GAME OF THRONES • A CLASH OF KINGS • A STORM OF SWORDS • A FEAST FOR CROWS • A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

• ISBN10: 0553593714
• ISBN13: 9780553593716
• Publish Date: 22 March 2011 (first published 1 August 1996)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Edition: HBO Tie-In Edition
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 864
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553593716

Reviews

[ibeforem]

This was recommended to me by a friend of mine, and I appreciate it (thanks, Margo!) I’ve very picky about the fantasy I read, and this fell smack dab in my range of acceptability.

This was a slow read for me, but that was more because of its length and the start of football season than the story itself. It’s different than others I’ve read, because you get the point of view of several different characters. In fact, each chapter has a different narrator. The only downside to this is that you don’t get particularly attached to any one character, though I found myself liking the child, Arya, the best. I did find that Martin uses a few phrases a little too frequently… just how many times can someone “not pretend to surprise”? This ends as any book in an epic fantasy series should… with a cliffhanger and no real resolution whatsoever. I’ll definitely be reading the others in the series.

“In the game of thrones, you either win or you die.”