Though I've tried, my journey into the fantasy epics has been somewhat limited to Harry Potter. Well, no more! Despite not having watched Game of Thrones, Season 1 Box Set
, I decided to read the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice. The books' spine was thick, and its pages were thin as they come. With a deep sigh, initially, I opened the pages and delved into the exciting world of George R. R. Martin's plane of intrigue and drama.
Firstly, I would be hesitant to nail A Game of Thrones solidly into the "fantasy" genre. For the first half of the book, it reads very much like a historical fiction text with sudden bounces into the extremely fantastic (e.g. reanimated dead corpses). The story centers on Eddard Stark - a Lord of Winterfell - and his family, as he is named Hand to the King and uncovers a plot that led to the previous Hand's death. The story is told from various point of view (POV) characters, including Eddard himself, his wife Catelyn, his daughters Sansa and Arya, his son Bran, his bastard son Jon, the dwarf brother of the King's wife, Tyrion, and finally a mysterious young woman who is the last of the line of Targaryeans (the previous ruling nobility), named Daenerys.
Already, I was pretty lost. It kind of felt like being in AP Euro again and not knowing who was related to who and what. At one point of time, I almost drew a genogram of the families. Somewhat helpful is an appendix at the end of the text that listed the noble families. It was more helpful than I care to admit.
George R. R. Martin writes engrossingly, but the sudden switches in POV lead to some frustrations as a reader (especially with cliffhangers). I was very happy when the author discovered he could use dialogue to move the story forward, and there was a point when things moved very, very quickly. The language is pretty dense, and on more than one occasion, I tried to look up the definition of some words by holding my finger to solid page and expecting a definition to appear. I highly recommend an eReader for these texts unless you have a very proficient vocabulary, are excellent with archaic syntax, or read with a dictionary nearby.
Throughout the book, the mysticism and magic of fantasy remain beyond the reach of the reader. Only at the end do we (the readers) get a good look into just how deep the rabbit hole of the world can possibly go. I can't deny that I am eagerly anticipating the next in the series.
If you do give A Game of Thrones a whirl, be patient; there really is a lull until the action gets going - and before you start to see character dynamics unfold. Before long, you barely notice that you once were unaware of the long and mythic history of the Seven Kingdoms, and you'll be nibbling at every new shred the book gives you to fill in the blanks.
, I decided to read the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice. The books' spine was thick, and its pages were thin as they come. With a deep sigh, initially, I opened the pages and delved into the exciting world of George R. R. Martin's plane of intrigue and drama.Firstly, I would be hesitant to nail A Game of Thrones solidly into the "fantasy" genre. For the first half of the book, it reads very much like a historical fiction text with sudden bounces into the extremely fantastic (e.g. reanimated dead corpses). The story centers on Eddard Stark - a Lord of Winterfell - and his family, as he is named Hand to the King and uncovers a plot that led to the previous Hand's death. The story is told from various point of view (POV) characters, including Eddard himself, his wife Catelyn, his daughters Sansa and Arya, his son Bran, his bastard son Jon, the dwarf brother of the King's wife, Tyrion, and finally a mysterious young woman who is the last of the line of Targaryeans (the previous ruling nobility), named Daenerys.
Already, I was pretty lost. It kind of felt like being in AP Euro again and not knowing who was related to who and what. At one point of time, I almost drew a genogram of the families. Somewhat helpful is an appendix at the end of the text that listed the noble families. It was more helpful than I care to admit.
George R. R. Martin writes engrossingly, but the sudden switches in POV lead to some frustrations as a reader (especially with cliffhangers). I was very happy when the author discovered he could use dialogue to move the story forward, and there was a point when things moved very, very quickly. The language is pretty dense, and on more than one occasion, I tried to look up the definition of some words by holding my finger to solid page and expecting a definition to appear. I highly recommend an eReader for these texts unless you have a very proficient vocabulary, are excellent with archaic syntax, or read with a dictionary nearby.
Throughout the book, the mysticism and magic of fantasy remain beyond the reach of the reader. Only at the end do we (the readers) get a good look into just how deep the rabbit hole of the world can possibly go. I can't deny that I am eagerly anticipating the next in the series.
If you do give A Game of Thrones a whirl, be patient; there really is a lull until the action gets going - and before you start to see character dynamics unfold. Before long, you barely notice that you once were unaware of the long and mythic history of the Seven Kingdoms, and you'll be nibbling at every new shred the book gives you to fill in the blanks.
