A Game of Thrones

Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Fantasy, Saga
Type: Paperback set (leather bound reprint edition)
Pages: 835
Series: #1 in the A Song of Ice and Fire series
Source: Personal copy
Publisher: Bantam Books
First Published: 1996
Opening Lines: "We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.  "The wildlings are dead."

Book Description from GoodReads: Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must ...and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark's family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

My Rating: 5 stars

My Review: Sometimes it pays to go back to a series you've given up on. We all have those books we've ditched part way through. Some weren't a good fit; some just weren't the book you needed at the time and some had so many characters to keep track of that you shut the book in a fit of frustration. I have experienced all of the above.

Game of Thrones is one of those series for me. I first read A Game of Thrones seven-and-a-half years ago and really enjoyed it (see my review HERE). I proceeded to the second book, Clash of Kings, but ended up giving up because I couldn't keep track of all of the characters (see my review HERE).

Enter the Game of Thrones TV series. After Brad and I finally finished watching the series in November 2019 (and were gleeful to no longer living under the constant threat of spoilers), I received a beautiful set of the books from one of my sons for Christmas. It was time to read the entire series ... I just hoped I wouldn't get stuck on all the characters. 

High five to HBO! Watching the TV series helped me keep track of who was who and if I got confused about a character, I'd just Google the name and up would pop a picture of the actor to aid my memory. I enjoyed getting back into the crazy lives of Tyrion (my fav), swoon-worthy Jon Snow and Daenerys and the gang. This is a no-holds barred, edge-of-your-seat Fantasy read, and I loved it even more this second time around.

Please don't let the massive page count scare you from picking up this compelling action-filled series. If you're not averse to violence, sassy bedroom scenes and enjoy Fantasy with healthy doses of deception, questionable alliances and eyebrow-raising dalliances, then you'll want to see what all the fuss is about with this super popular series.