Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (Novel)

I’ve been meaning to read this fantasy book for some time. Then HBO decided to make it into a series and I’ve been killing myself to read it so I can watch the show. I wanted to read the book first because I‘ve heard it’s well-written and a classic of the genre. It is. It’s the kind of book that sticks to your brain. The characters are fully realized in a world begging to explore. Told from different points of views, it’s the story about the Starks who live in the north in Winterfell and the beginnings of a great feud between their rivals the Lannisters. Ned Stark is ordered by the King to become his Second in command, known as the King’s Hand. Yet something is not right with the King’s wife, the Queen who is sleeping with her brother a Lannister. Then there’s Ned’s bastard who leaves for the Wall to become a Black Brother, a protector who guards the kingdom from the wilds of the north. Meanwhile the children of the last King, the Targaryens (disposed of many years ago) are traveling in a faraway land, planning their return and revenge by creating an alliance with Dothraki warriors. But the best character in the book is Tyrion Lannister the Imp, the Queen’s younger brother, a small man with large ambitions. What a fantastic book of storytelling and world building. Sometimes writers of fantasy are good a world building only to lack the storytelling chops. Or they can tell a good story but their world is badly realized and so hurts the book. Not here, George R.R. Martin knows what he’s doing and it’s exciting to finally finish this book. The endnig is perfectly realized and unforgettable.  I can’t wait to start the television adaptation now. It’s exactly the kind of epic this new television renaissance can realize. Grade: A