Original title: Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
Year of Publication: 1996
Number of pages: 807, paperback
Jon Arryn is dead and the king, Robert Baratheon, seeks for a new hand of the king in his old and good friend Eddard Stark, the ruler of the North. Eddard refuses to go at first but when a series of situations make him suspect of the nature of the death of Arryn, he travels south to be with the king and face the game of power they call the game of thrones.
"The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die. [...] A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is."
If you have not been living under a rock you probably already know a bit of what the story is about, either through the popularity of the books or from the HBO produced TV show that is currently filming the sixth season. However, whether or not you know anything about the story, A Song of Ice and Fire -the title of the book series- is a high fantasy tale so real like no other, incredibly well written and full of twists, turns, and lessons that I truly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to read it. Yes, the books are long, but they are all but tedious and the writing is so bewitching and spectacular that you will feel the need to read them all as soon as you possibly can.
The story is set in the land of Westeros, with the king Robert Baratheon to rule over the seven kingdoms, which are controlled mostly by old families of the realm. Up north lie the Starks, guided by Eddard or Ned Stark. He has five legitimate children from his marriage to Catelyn Tully: Rob, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon; and one bastard: Jon Snow. Thinking those are many names to remember? Well, you better pay a lot of attention while reading, as the amount of characters in these novels is off the charts. Luckily, at the back of the books we can find a breakthrough of every family important to the realm.
The book itself is written from the perspective of eight characters: the Starks and some of their children (Bran, Catelyn, Eddard, Arya, Jon and Sansa), the imp brother of the Queen of Westeros (Tyrion Lannister) and one of the only two survivors of the Targaryen family, the ones who used to sit on the throne before the Baratheons did (Daenerys Targaryen). Each character tells the story through their own eyes, and we soon find ourselves reading about three main stories: what happens at Kingslanding regarding Jon Arryn's death, what happens at The Wall, a massive construction far north made to protect the realm from what lies beyond, and what is Viserys, the older brother of Daenerys, planning to do to take back the crown.
The story, as I have mentioned, is filled with unexpected twists and turns, is mysterious and heart wrenching and it feels so real and timeless, that what's happening could easily have happened in real life, of course, minus the dragons, The Others, and some little details like that. One story that I highly recommend to anyone that likes fantasy and to anyone who wants to read a good one.
- You can buy it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble or The Book Depository
- Trailer for the first season of Game of Thrones
- George R. R. Martin's (Not a) blog
