Title: Game of Thrones
Author: George R. R. Martin
Published: Originally Published
August 1996, Bantam
Plot Overview:
The great realm of Westeros is divided into seven smaller sub-kingdoms, each
ruled by its own lord, who in turn are ruled by King Robert, who resides in
King’s Landing. When the Hand of the King, Lord Arryn, dies suddenly, Robert
takes his family and a host of guards and attendants to make the trek north to
Winterfell, home of the king’s closest friend, Lord Ned Stark. Ned is very
hesitant to take the position, as he has no desire to involve himself in the
political games of the kingdom. However, when Ned’s wife Catelyn receives a
letter from her sister Lysa, Lord Arryn’s widow, explaining that she believes
her husband was murdered by the Lannisters, Ned has a change of heart. Cersei
Lannister is unhappily married to his dear friend, King Robert. When the safety
of his friend and the potential outbreak of war becomes a threat, Catelyn
convinces him that he must accept Robert’s offer to save the Stark family, King
Robert’s life and the fate of Westeros.
Upon arriving in King’s Landing, Ned begins to do some research into Lord
Arryn’s death. One clue after another brings him to yet another mystery, as he
slowly unveils the truth. John Arryn was most certainly murdered, but for what
purpose? The answer suddenly reveals itself in the most unexpected way and Ned
must decide what he is to do with the knowledge he’s gained – to tell the King
would mean hurting his pride and watching the outcome of his wrath; to keep the
secret would be damaging to his own honor and loyalty to his friend. The last
thing Ned Stark wanted when King Robert’s host entered his castle was to be
involved in politics; now he is the keeper of a secret that could rip the
kingdoms apart with war.
Across the narrow sea the last living descendants of Aerys Targaryen, the
former ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, are on a quest to take back what is theirs.
Prince Viserys has forced his sister, Princess Daenerys (Dany), into an
arranged marriage with Khal Drogo, leader of a large Dothraki clan. In return,
Drogo has promised an army to Viserys, with which the ambitious prince intends
to take back the realm stolen from them in the war upon their father. King
Aerys had gone mad and was doing terrible things when the lords of the seven
kingdoms rose up against him, killing him and installing Robert Baratheon on
the throne. Viserys will do anything to sit upon the throne in King’s Landing
Meanwhile, Ned Stark’s bastard son John Snow is fighting is own battles. Upon
his father’s departure from Winterfell, John decided to join the Night’s Watch
– a group of men skilled in battle, who protect the realm from things on the
other side of the Wall. The Wall is located at the northern most part of the
kingdoms, separating Westeros from the Haunted Forest,
a land of ice, snow and wild things. The realm has spent the last 9 years
reveling in an unusually long summer. But summer cannot last forever and
strange, dark things are beginning stir beyond the wall.
Winter is coming.
Review (Spoiler heavy!)
I’ve been meaning to start reading the Song of Ice and Fire series for a long
time now. It’s always looked interesting and when I discovered they were
adapting a television show from the books, one that looked wicked awesome
(forgive my Maineisms), well – that pretty much sealed it. My best friend was
fan and after several conversations about the series, with her telling me that
I had to read it and me saying I knew I needed to, she loaned me her copy of
the first book.
Upon starting the novel, I realized that A Game of Thrones, although it had
similar qualities to books I’ve read in the past, was a bit different from my
usual choices. I don’t normally pick up books that have a lot of politics and
political intrigue in the plot. However, the further into the book I got and
the more attached I got to the characters my mind turned away from the “I’m
seriously reading about politics?” mentality and more toward “what is the
secret and what will it mean for the kingdoms?!”
The character development is just incredible. Just when you think you’ve got a
character all figured out they do or say something that completely throws you
for a loop and, depending on how you feel about them, will either bring you
immense satisfaction or disappointment. I particularly enjoyed the
transformations of John Snow, Robb, Sansa and Arya Stark and especially
Daenerys Targaryen as they grew up and were affected by the events around them.
John
had lived at Winterfell all his life, surrounded by his father and
half-siblings, most of which, except for Arya and Robb, didn’t accept him.
Catelyn Stark, especially, looked upon him with disdain and wanted nothing to
do with him. Although he loved his father very much, he wore the name bastard
like a curse. After a conversation with Tyrion Lannister (the only good
Lannister, in my opinon), he began to feel less and less ashamed of who he was.
Tyrion told him to embrace it, own it and then nothing anyone said about his
parentage could ever hurt him again. He went to the Wall as a young man who had
been insulted, beaten down and made to feel inferior but when he began his
training it quickly became obvious that he was the most skilled, the most
talented and the most driven of all the young men who were planning to take the
Black of the Night’s Watch. Upon this realization the then became rather proud
of himself and a bit pompous. However, after another heart to heart with
Tyrion, he began to take less pride in his successes in the training field and
began to help his peers with their fighting skills.
Robb and
Arya Stark have to grow up very quickly in a short amount of time. While the
girls went to King’s Landing with their father, Robb and his younger brothers
stayed behind at Winterfell. When tragedy strikes young Brandon Stark just
before Ned and party set out, Catelyn becomes inconsolable. She stays by Bran’s
bedside and is incapable of handling matters of Winterfell. Robb steps up and
takes over duties as Lord, making decisions necessary to successfully run their
northern kingdom. When disturbing news reaches them from King’s Landing Robb
gathers the northern armies together and begins to march south. Arya, the
youngest of the Stark’s two daughters was always a little tomboyish, preferring
to play at swords with her brothers than to sit with the ladies and embroider
fabric. After arriving in King’s Landing, Ned sets her up with a fencing
master, from whom she begins to properly learn how to wield a blade and to
fight. The lessons he teaches prove useful when Lannister guardsmen interrupt
one of her lessons to take her into custody. She escapes them easily and
manages to live secretly on the streets of the city. Unlike her sister, Sansa
doesn’t realize that the Lannisters and the Prince, Joffrey, may not be as
sincere as they seem or have the best interests of the kingdom at heart. She defends
her beloved prince whenever Arya says anything against him and still believes
in him up until the day he has her father beheaded for treason. Sansa comes to
know the true heart of Joffrey and realizes her errors far too late.
Dany, in
addition to Arya and John, is one of my favorite characters in the novel. Her
brother sees her as nothing but a bargaining tool and mistreats and verbally
abuses her. She has been beaten down by her brother for years and dares not
defy him in any way, making her quiet, meek and reserved when we first meet
her. Though she doesn’t want to, she is forced to marry a man she has never
met, Khal Drogo, leader of the Dothraki clan. While he frightens her at first,
she warms up to him and eventually loves him. She is treated like a queen by
all in the clan and she gradually begins to feel that she is worth more than
what Viserys has made her to believe. As time passes she eventually sees
herself as the queen she is and stops taking the abuse from her brother. When a
drunk Viserys enters sacred ground of the Dothraki and points a sword at her
pregnant belly, she tells him to stop but knows it’s too late for him. She does
nothing to stop Khal Drogo from giving him exactly what he deserves. And I feel
that, although she loses a brother, she is freed from his constant oppression
and is able to more fully grow into the queen and the person she has been all
along.
It’s a
truly excellent book that I highly recommend. It’s a wonderful blend of
political intrigue, fantasy and coming of age stories. And unlike many fantasy
novels, Martin doesn’t overwhelm the reader with magic and the supernatural,
though there is evidence of it throughout the book. There are only a very few
moments in the book when the reader is present when something otherworldly is
going on – the white walkers, waking from their millennia-long slumber, the
witch who helps Dany save her husband and, most importantly, the dragons Dany
helps to hatch. These little glimpses into the magic of Westeros only whets the
fantasy appetite, getting the reader more excited for what new brand of magic
will be revealed next and also helps to really focus on the political plots
woven throughout the story, and that’s really what the book is about – the
story of different houses, all trying to do what they think is best for the
realm, some of their ambitions a little more self-serving than others.
But
while the kingdoms play the game of thrones and you watch tensions mount,
wondering who will take the crown in the end, there’s that little thought
nagging at the back of your mind. Sempas tell their young charges tales of the
long winters that brought with it wild things of old that killed everything in
their path and wiped entire villages and cities from existence. And far to the
north, beyond the wall and away from the trouble in King’s Landing, things long
thought dead are stirring in the darkness.
Winter
is coming.
