Game of Thrones: And so it begins...

I typically wait until a series of books have reached completion before starting them. I know this a a bad habit, but being a voracious reader such as myself... I like to know I can get to the end-- the real end --of a story before I start it. I am a bit impatient, as Tom Petty says, "The waiting is the hardest part", right?

Any-who I succumb to absolute unadulterated peer pressure (from my husband and brother) and broke down and read the first book anyway. That leaves the fantastic HBO series season one temptation without saying. So here is my review of Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice

George R. R. Martin is a literary crackerjack. His episodic, massively detailed,  completely fleshed-out, throughly chronicled world of Westeros complete with a multitude of characters is an undeniable page turner. Starting in the cold hard packed lands of the north filled with honor bound men and many a thing that goes bump in the night, the reader is led south to the seat of power in the Red Keep-- the iron throne. On this journey, you meet both pawns and kings and realize quickly that every act in public and promise in secret is building towards a power coup that could end the realm. Trouble descends from every direction. Intrigue is plotted in every shadow. And no one-- I mean no one-- is safe. Who will win the match and live to see another day? Because in the game of thrones you either win, or you die.

This book just does it for me on so many levels. Martin's style is fully detailed but not overly flowery. I appreciate the succinct way he describes the people, the places, and the power struggles. It allows you to get engrossed in your imagination without getting swamped in the mountains of words on the pages. That is not to say that this is a brief read. This book is long, but I think even the faint of heart will look up several hours later and realize they have read 200 pages. Don't let the thickness of the book dissuade you from the fabulous story inside.

Characters are the mortar that binds this book together. Martin's story is chocked full of some amazing people. Some of my personal favorites are:

*Jon Snow the bastard(Martin's words not mine) son of an otherwise honorable man who leaves his family in search of adventure beyond Winterfell. 

*Arya Stark the rough and tough young lady of the north using a sharp tongue and shaper sword to get into all kinds of trouble and scrapes both at home and in the capital. 
*Tyrion Lannister the ill-begotten dwarf son of the richest of men who uses his brain in the absence of brawn. 

Martin is also talented at writing characters you hate. Some that I loathe are:

*Prince Joffery Baratheon the cruel, painfully immature, and frighteningly merciless king to be.
*Ser Ilyn Payne the mutilated and muted knight bent on delivering the king's justice... with his axe.
*Queen Cersei Baratheon the cunning, manipulative, and grasping woman beside the king who'll stop at nothing and step over anyone to stay on top.

And this is really only the briefest of lists. So many characters to love and loathe and then loathe and love in turns. Get reading! 

The book is so good that I need to give you a disclaimer. DO NOT watch the HBO series first if you can help it. Season One of GOT did such an amazing job recreating Martin's book that it steals a bit of the glory from the novel if viewed before the book. Many of the conversations and small details are EXACTLY like the book.

But some things just can't be transferred to the silver screen. The book has a several first person perspectives that really add to the feel of the tangled tale not to mention the overall story that I believe Martin is trying to tell. Knowing some things before hand can cause the book to feel like a doomed march to destruction, an illusion that Martin meticulously suspends-- until the silent sword is already swung catching the reader unawares and doubtless unprepared on several occasions. Besides, the series will rob you of the opportunity of imagining some of the characters-- personally, my favorite part of reading books like this. 

Overall this book is a 5 Commendable Yarn. I say 5 because I stayed up until 2am on several nights reading, the consequences of a tired day with twins to come be hanged. That and I am telling absolute strangers to read this book. I am hooked. I am trying to pace myself so that I don't finish the books too soon before the next one comes out, but I started Clash of Kings yesterday and am halfway through...