A Game of Thrones
1996 • 819 pages

Ratings1,500

Average rating4.4

15

This is going to be an unpopular opinion. I've put off reading this series for a long time because it didn't sound enticing to me. And especially since I heard some people compare it to Tolkien or name it “the best fantasy story”. I was skeptical; and after finally finishing book 1, I was right - I don't like it. I don't hate it, but I don't quite like it (not-quite-3 stars). As a side note, I did watch the first couple of episodes of the oh-so-popular TV series, but I didn't like that either.

First off, I would praise the writing and the coherency of prose. The book introduces a staggering number of important characters, supporting characters, side characters, and once-off characters. But I didn't find myself losing track. It's almost like the writing itself kind of hints to the reader which characters you should hold in your long term memory. Or maybe the prose just makes it easy to recall who a character is. This part was done really well, even with the chapters frequently switching to a different plot arc.

Now comes the primary reason why I don't like it - generally-speaking, this is less epic adventure and more political drama slash court intrigue. It's almost medieval fiction, except set in a completely different world, with a smattering of mystical and supernatural elements thrown in. Maybe it's just the first volume and winter hasn't arrived yet. I hope volume 2 picks it up a bit. As it is, I would say it's comparable to Tolkien's works only on the details of the setting, but not the story.

Also of note is that this book targets a mature audience. There's a fair bit of brutality, oppression, and perversion going on throughout the book. The writer has no problems killing off characters whom you thought might become rather central. In a way, I'm kind of enjoying myself trying to predict who will die and who won't, and predicting who gets a chapter with their name on it. At least he hasn't killed off my favourite ones yet - but he also hasn't killed off the ones that annoy me. Oh well.

I do look forward to seeing more of what “winter is coming” means, especially with regards to “the Others”, as this feels like the most promising part of the story to me.

In conclusion, this book is very obviously just part 1, as almost nothing concludes here. Every single major plot arc is still ongoing and nowhere near finishing - like a TV-series soap drama, small wonder it so succeeded on TV.

November 27, 2018Report this review