Genre: Adult Fantasy
A Song of Ice and Fire Series, Book 1
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Description (taken from George RR Martin's website):
This review isn't going to be of much help for those who have never heard of this book nor the tv series. If you've seen the tv series and gotten yourself hooked, then you pretty much know if you're going to like this story or not. I'm one of the few who had been holding off on reading the books for as long as possible. Because they're super long, and I feel like I wouldn't have been able to keep the characters straight. But I've finally read the first book. And my thoughts?
If you've seen the tv series, don't hold your breath for much to change with reading the book. The first season follows the book really well that I often found myself bored with the book and frustrated with how long it was. I mean, sure, I found the hidden plot lines that foretell what's to come and I enjoyed the foreshadowing. But I honestly wonder if I would have caught on if I hadn't already known the story and what happens. There were definitely some moments where it was nice to make the connections in the book. But I don't really think I gained anything extra from this book.
While I am absolutely addicted to the tv series, I am not quite sold on the books. And it's probably because I started the books after the tv series. However my husband is forcing me to read the next one, and he's told me things begin to deviate a lot more with that one. So maybe I'll be surprised?
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
This review isn't going to be of much help for those who have never heard of this book nor the tv series. If you've seen the tv series and gotten yourself hooked, then you pretty much know if you're going to like this story or not. I'm one of the few who had been holding off on reading the books for as long as possible. Because they're super long, and I feel like I wouldn't have been able to keep the characters straight. But I've finally read the first book. And my thoughts?
If you've seen the tv series, don't hold your breath for much to change with reading the book. The first season follows the book really well that I often found myself bored with the book and frustrated with how long it was. I mean, sure, I found the hidden plot lines that foretell what's to come and I enjoyed the foreshadowing. But I honestly wonder if I would have caught on if I hadn't already known the story and what happens. There were definitely some moments where it was nice to make the connections in the book. But I don't really think I gained anything extra from this book.
While I am absolutely addicted to the tv series, I am not quite sold on the books. And it's probably because I started the books after the tv series. However my husband is forcing me to read the next one, and he's told me things begin to deviate a lot more with that one. So maybe I'll be surprised?
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