A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
The first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series is an engaging historical fantasy. Admittedly I am a fantasy fan and historical fiction fan, and Martin does such a remarkable job of integrating the history of Westeros, the different highborn families, all while dropping tantalizing hints of what will (hopefully) be revealed later.
Like most good fantasy I read, it was a bit slow going to begin with; I seem to take longer to get a handle on the people and the places, but eventual I was enthralled with (enraged by, beguiled by) the different characters in the book that I did not want to put it down.
The book is told from the point of view of a handful of characters, and while we get slightly into their heads, we're not entirely wrapped up in them, which is nice. Martin does a fabulous job of ending a chapter about one character at a point where I wish he would continue with that character but by the time I get to the next character's part of the story I don't find myself wanting to skip ahead. Martin has such richly drawn characters, so well fleshed out that a reader gets a feel for all the characters, not just the ones telling the story.
I am not a particularly astute reader--I prefer to be swept up by the story, thinking more about what has been revealed, what's currently being revealed, not worrying too much about what's going to happen--so certain aspects of the book came as a surprise to me. It becomes obvious that war is brewing in the Seven Kingdoms, I just did not think it would begin in the first book (knowing this is a series, I figured the action would take place later). I am glad it did though, because now I'm mulling on (when I'm not reading) what's going to happen in the rest of the books (and I really don't have a clue, except for one event that's pretty inevitable). A Game of Thrones is an engaging story, especially if you a fan of history. It's fictional history of course, but it gives the feel of medieval Europe, with warring families and usurpers and tentative alliances. There is enough familiar in the fantasy aspects to prevent Martin from slowing down the story by explaining every detail of the fantasy and writes (much like what I've read of Scott Westerfeld) with an assumption that the reader will pick up what the author is talking about. And the reader does.
I'm excited to read this series and before I even finished the first book, I checked out the second from the library (and even debated purchasing it for my Kindle, and seeing as the vast majority of books on my Kindle I've acquired for free, that's saying a great deal). I'm completely lost in the wonderful storytelling of this series and join the legions of fans in July eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
Like most good fantasy I read, it was a bit slow going to begin with; I seem to take longer to get a handle on the people and the places, but eventual I was enthralled with (enraged by, beguiled by) the different characters in the book that I did not want to put it down.
The book is told from the point of view of a handful of characters, and while we get slightly into their heads, we're not entirely wrapped up in them, which is nice. Martin does a fabulous job of ending a chapter about one character at a point where I wish he would continue with that character but by the time I get to the next character's part of the story I don't find myself wanting to skip ahead. Martin has such richly drawn characters, so well fleshed out that a reader gets a feel for all the characters, not just the ones telling the story.
I am not a particularly astute reader--I prefer to be swept up by the story, thinking more about what has been revealed, what's currently being revealed, not worrying too much about what's going to happen--so certain aspects of the book came as a surprise to me. It becomes obvious that war is brewing in the Seven Kingdoms, I just did not think it would begin in the first book (knowing this is a series, I figured the action would take place later). I am glad it did though, because now I'm mulling on (when I'm not reading) what's going to happen in the rest of the books (and I really don't have a clue, except for one event that's pretty inevitable). A Game of Thrones is an engaging story, especially if you a fan of history. It's fictional history of course, but it gives the feel of medieval Europe, with warring families and usurpers and tentative alliances. There is enough familiar in the fantasy aspects to prevent Martin from slowing down the story by explaining every detail of the fantasy and writes (much like what I've read of Scott Westerfeld) with an assumption that the reader will pick up what the author is talking about. And the reader does.
I'm excited to read this series and before I even finished the first book, I checked out the second from the library (and even debated purchasing it for my Kindle, and seeing as the vast majority of books on my Kindle I've acquired for free, that's saying a great deal). I'm completely lost in the wonderful storytelling of this series and join the legions of fans in July eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
Labels: fantasy
posted by austentatious at 5:12 PM
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