Friday 16 March 2012

Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George. R. R. Martin - Book Review

This review was written by my friend Sam Crossley. After raving about the TV series, he craved and purchased the whole series on Kindle. But I will let him tell you more:

I first came across Game of Thrones from the season 1 TV series. After the first episode I was hooked and decided to buy the books. So I had a slight advantage when I read the first book, as each book is a TV series.

Summary courtesy of Amazon

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plot, lusts and intrigues; to the vast and savage eastern lands; all the way to the frozen north, where an 800-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men… all will play the Game of Thrones.
Winter is coming…

The story line is based in a medieval setting on a different world. It follows multiple characters of different high born families. One of the things I love about these books is that the different families have different sayings and sigils for example; The Stark’s sigil is the dire wolf (A different breed of wolf twice the size and only found in the north.) and their motto is “Winter is coming.” And the Lannisters sigil is a golden lion and there motto is “A Lannisters always pays his depts.” You realise as you read through the book that every sigil and motto has been carefully thought out and applies to the families perfectly.

In the same way as the families have been thought out, each character has so many different sides to them and have all been completely well rounded. The author has said that he intends to write seven books so as you might guess the plot twists turns and rolls in ways I could never guess! Despite this is keeps you enthralled with every page. My only minor negative point about this series of books is trying to remember all the house names and who they are in allegiance with. However, you don’t really notice this until you put the book down and eventually you put it down and suddenly realise that you’ve known them all for quite a while.

You will notice a reoccurring theme in this review but something I really credit this book for is its depth of characters and detail. This is again shown in how the author has intertwined each different religion into the story and managed to give you enough information that without knowing it you understand everything about it.


I give this a 5/5.

You can pick up Game of Thrones on Kindle for just £3.99 or if your old school and love you papers back you can grab a bargain at £3.86.

I also advise everyone to watch the TV series, I rate it a better book to TV conversion than the LOTR’s trilogy. 

Thanks for reading, Love Rie & Sam x

4 comments:

  1. I read this book series (the ones that were out anyway!) a little while ago, then watched the TV show when it came out. As much as I liked the books it is actually one of the very few times when i enjoyed the TV show more than the books.

    I would agree Sam that the depth of character development is very impressive in these books, but personally i found the way it constantly jumps back and forth between different characters plot lines a little off putting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment Lisa, it sounds like something I want to watch and read soon - I just see the size of the book and put off a little. But if has some glowing reviews and both You and Sam have made it sound so good!

      Delete
  2. I can see what you mean about the characters but I like it, because they are all spread across the world they all receive news at different points.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great,thanks for your sharing,welcome to join us
    find your nearby gamer

    ReplyDelete