A Game of Thrones

The epic saga begins with a great introduction of all the different houses in Westeros, their lands, and their influence. A vast land, different parts each has a lord, and one king tries to rule them all. Watch your back while walking through Kingslanding, an enemy could lure you behind the very next corner. There are spies everywhere and no one to trust, as everyone plays by their own rules to their own benefit. Ridden by greed and hatred, only the strongest get the power and the weak are left behind to suffer. To walk over corpses gets a new definition. I have already watched the Game of Thrones series on TV, and I was mesmerized by the story. That and the dragons involved were reason enough for me to dive deeper into Westeros. As there are always differences between a book and the same named film, I was curious to find parts that weren’t mentioned in the film and how they affect the plot. I think the books and films complement each other nicely, but it’s not necessary to have seen the movies first or vice versa. At first, it may be a bit of a struggle to keep all those families and characters apart, but this settles by itself with reading on as their names occur constantly. Don’t get intimidated by a large number of pages; the beginning might be a bit long and tiresome which takes up pace after the introduction is over. The only parts I didn’t like were the parts with the battles. I usually don’t read fantasy, but this first part of the series has convinced me to give this genre a try more often.

George Martin erweist sich als Meister darin, eine anspruchvolle Welt und ein Menge vielschichtiger Charaktere zu erschaffen. Trotz der Vielzahl der Charaktere geht die Übersicht nie verloren. Die Aufteilung der Kaptiel nach einzelnen Charakteren ist wirklich sehr gut gelungen. Die Handlung ist spannend, und das Buch nimmt immer wieder neue Wendungen. Martin schreckt auch nicht davor zurück Hauptcharaktere das zeitliche Segnen zu lassen, eine für Fantasyromane ja eher unübliche Eigenart. Martins Englisch ist auch für ungeübt Leser englischer Literatur leicht zugänglich, also auch als Einstieg in englische Fantasy zu empfehlen. Tad Williams ist hier etwa deutlich anspruchsvoller. Fazit: Ein rundum gelungener Auftakt eines grandiosen Fantasy-Epos. Für alle Fans von Autoren wie Tolkien oder Williams uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen. Daumen hoch!

What prompted me to re-read George R. R. Martin’s unfinished series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’? On the one hand, the sheer detail in the world in which the story is set. Secondly, I wanted to refresh my memory, especially as it’s been over ten years since the fifth and final novel was published (and you never know – perhaps ‘The Winds of Winter’ will see the light of day after all). At the heart of the first volume, ‘A Game of Thrones’ from 1996, is the Stark family from the north of the continent of Westeros. The head of the family and Lord of Winterfell, Eddard Stark, is appointed Hand of the King by his childhood friend, King Robert Baratheon. The previous Hand, their mutual childhood friend Jon Arryn, has died. Together, they had brought down the Targaryen dynasty, which had ruled Westeros for almost 300 years before Robert’s accession to the throne. The Stark family splits up: some remain at Winterfell – including Bran, who has just become disabled – whilst others travel south with Eddard to King’s Landing, and his bastard son Jon Snow goes even further north, to the Wall, where he joins the Night’s Watch. The premise: according to a rumour, the late Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters, the family of the King’s wife. Eddard sets out to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, on the neighbouring continent of Essos, Daenerys Targaryen and her brother Viserys are in exile – the last two surviving Targaryens.

If you like fantasy, you MUST read this book. It's even better than the series, although that one is pretty good already (at least until season 7). This books contains a huge cast of characters and has a totally epic scale. There are dragons, there is intrigue, there are battles and there is war. This book contains everything a classic fanatsy hit has to have. But not only that: This book is really special because Martin writes about politics as if they were real. There aren't really good guys and bad guys, it's just full of morally grey characters and most of the villains aren't just evil monsters but humans and some even humans with wounds from the t´past, which led them to be "Villains". If you like huge, epic scale fantasy, read thsi book. If you want a finished series, better watch the show (aöthough the end isn't really satisfying) because I doubt Martin will ever finish the series

I stared reading this after watching the series and I have to say: the series didn't even come close to the books. The different character pov's, you really felt like reading the views of said ones, like daenerys, up to bran, totally different writing styles. The build up of the whole fantasy world, felt like switching to different parts of the world. Martin's writing is fantastic and so well spoken. Definitely one of the best fantasy series I've ever read.