Game of Thrones by George RR Martin | Berg’s Book Club

Book Title: Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
Book No.: #1
Genre: Fantasy
First Published: August 1996

It took me quite awhile to actually pick this book up. The TV series sounded complicated enough when I heard friends discussing it, let alone the book. One of my friends saw it on my to-read list and bought me the first two books, so I lost the excuse of not having the book as a reason to put it off any longer.

Before I started to read A Game of Thrones, I prepared myself for a whole lot of complicated. Especially the houses and each of their roles. And to my surprise, it was less complicated than I imagined. I mean, it was complicated, but not as complicated as I believed it would be.

Now, I’ll be honest. I half-read, half-listened to this book. Some of the words were not sounding phonetically right in my head due to my dyslexia—which at the time of reading, I didn’t know I had. I just automatically started to use audiobooks when I found books “too hard to read”. My diagnosis has helped me understand the reasons why.

Often, I sat on the settee, headphones in, listening to the book as I followed along on the page. And I enjoyed it. Berg even got dressed for the occasion.

He also enjoyed it I think more for the phrase: “Winter is Coming”. He is a Polar Bear after all, (Don’t tell him the crown is upside down!).

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Anyway, I digress, to the review. I may not be able to cover everything, it is a long book after all, but I will read the second one soon, so perhaps I’ll write another review on this series.

A Game of Thrones Synopsis

Is it a game of The Sims? Where summer can last a lifetime! No, it’s A Game of Thrones and the long summer is coming to an end. Winter is coming and so is the battle for the Iron Throne.

In this world, boys are forced to become men before their time. But who will win this war for the throne?

A Game of Thrones is the first installment in the Song of Ice and Fire Series

Narrative & Storytelling

Once you open the book, you are thrown into a world resembling the medieval era. The kingdom split into houses and these houses rule their own area.

The story is told with alternating narratives, following various characters on their journey. This often meant that each chapter ended on a cliff-hanger and you had to wait until you got to the character’s next chapter to find out what happened, discovering that time has continued to move on from the last time you saw them.

I have read other books that do something similar to this, but I struggle to think of one that has executed it as well as Martin has.

I feel that George R. R. Martin’s choice to use the third person omniscient was the right decision. He didn’t rely on the first person narrative to show the thoughts of the characters we were currently following, instead, he did something clever. We followed a character, for argument sake, we’ll say Ned Stark, and every now and again, we’d slip into Ned’s thoughts, or the thoughts of the people he was with, but also distant enough to know what is going on. It’s complex to explain but it is executed well.

I believe the book wouldn’t have worked as well if written in third person limited, or first person. I also believe the way Martin does this adds to the characterisation and makes the world seem more realistic.

Conflict and Worldbuilding

Martin also creates great conflict between the characters. The conflict seemed real and tense, and as the story flicked between characters and locations, there was more than enough to keep me on edge!

Instantly, the book touches on themes of insect, murder and plot. Bastard children are looked down upon. The hand of the king has died suspiciously and Ned Stark is given the job. Death looms around the corner for each and every character—but I already knew that from the reputation the series had.

Every action one character took created conflict with another, and that conflict was added to build onto this vast and magical world Martin has created. And because the story is told in Third Person Omniscient, an event might happen that we do not see the resolution to for another 5-7 or more chapters.

This was the case for one of the characters I was invested in. Bran, a little boy who is able to climb extremely well. If you know the story, you know what the conflict is. I waited eagerly to get back to Bran Stark.

However, Martin decided I needed to know what happened, but first, I needed to know what was happening elsewhere in the kingdom before I could return, and this kept me on my toes throughout.

Game of Thrones Imagery

This world comes to life because of the imagery George R. R. Martin uses. I could see Bran’s reaction to the Dire Wolves pups. His wide eyes praying his father will let him take them home. This is probably my favourite scene in the book. This or Daenerys last scene in the book. No spoilers!

I could also see Bran climbing on the rooftops, the fun, the freedom he feels as he climbs higher and higher. He became my favourite character from the start. So full of life, mischief and hope.

This, all just in Winterfell. Then the story moves to Kings Landing and other places in the world. I used the map that comes with the book to see how far they have travelled, to see what they see. The whole book felt as if I was a part of the story. A character that did not speak, but watched, unnoticed by the other characters.

I loved the dire wolves, I think I have two favourites out of the litter and  I also enjoyed the Children of the Forest and found them interesting. I think one of Martin’s skills is the ability to include these creatures into the world, adding more conflict but not overwhelming the story.

The detail in the book is excellent, preventing any unnecessary exposition – or exposition that does not add to the story in some way.

Game of Thrones Characters

I cannot talk about all the characters in depth. we will be here for a book’s length if I even attempted to do that! So I have decided to talk about a few of my favourite characters.

Bran Stark

As already said, Bran is one of my favourite characters and was from the start.  I think he is meant to catch your attention on page one after the event that happens to him within the first few chapters, so if that was the intention, it certainly worked for me. Though I think Arya, Jon and Daenerys are fighting for his place.

Arya Stark

I love Arya Stark. Along with her brother, Jon, she takes after her father while her other siblings take after their mother, Catelyn. Catelyn was once a Tully before her marriage to Eddard Stark.

I think I like Arya because she doesn’t want to be a lady and she is not a ‘typical lady’ in nature. I guess, she is what I hope I would have been if I lived in her world. She wants to learn how to defend herself and use a sword, so she does, but with it, people stop calling her a girl and begin calling her ‘boy’ which seems as if it annoys her- as it would myself.

This creates and adds conflict between her sister, Sansa but builds a bond with her brother Jon.

Jon

Jon, like Arya, is also an outsider in the family, but for different reasons. Not going to say why here, but I wonder how he managed to cope living with the Starks for such a long time.

I find him quite interesting and feel that his story is going to develop greatly in the next few books – in other words, I have a hunch that he is much more important than the other characters see him as.

Daenerys and Little Finger

I also like Daenerys though I am not sure why. Maybe because of the ending of the book. I loved her final scene. She also goes through a lot in a short amount of time and comes out of it seemingly unscarthed.

Little Finger has no association with Daenerys, but I put them under the same heading as I didn’t have much to say about both without spoilers. However, I do like how Little Finger speaks, how he talks and the way he moves. I find him quiet cunning and interesting because of it.

Well Rounded and realistic

Overall, the characters are well rounded, visual and all of them have their good, bad and definitely their grey areas.

Each of them has their own goal to achieve and also their own complication that they have to overcome. However, they do not always use logic and reason to achieve what they want and they have to pay the consequences of their actions.

As the audience, we get hints of what each character is planning and why. We are given a unique chance to choose who to root for, and I love it.

Game of Thrones Review Summary

The characters, world building and narrative are well written and executed to the point that I already fell in love with many of the characters from the first page. I could feel the conflict and see the characters as they moved through the book.

It was just really vivid and engaging. I couldn’t put the book down.

Dyslexia challenges

The only issue I have with the book, which is more a personal issue than a fault with the writing, is that if I did not have the audiobook accompanying me, I would have found it hard to read. Most of my time would have been spent contemplating whether the pronunciation in my head was correct or not (which the audiobook tells me that most of the time, it wasn’t).

It also took me awhile to realise Eddard and Ned were one of the same people but these are very small things, nothing to impact on the enjoyment of the book. But these are more a personal issue I guess, so if you want to have a go pronouncing some of these names or if you’re one of these people who doesn’t care whether the way your head says it is correct, then I would recommend this book.

I enjoyed it and the names have not put me off the second book so…

Quiz

I know I haven’t talked about the houses or many of the other characters yet, but I am still trying to work them out in this complicated series.
Before I go, I took a Zoo quiz to see which house I would fit into. I got what you probably can tell is my favourite house. The Starks.

Obviously, the quiz isn’t ‘official’ so if anyone has a link that is official that places you in one of the houses, please share it in comments. Would love to see if the Starks is the house that I belong in. What house do you belong in? Let me know in the comments.

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