Witty Reviews: A Game of Thrones

I saw four of the seven (is it seven?) Song of Ice and Fire books in my Dad’s wardrobe and they stopped me in my tracks. I had never watched the series, but I’d heard amazing things (apart from an apparently disastrous finale). However, due to how our pop culture commentary seems to work, TV and film often drown out books. Therefore, I hadn’t heard much about the quality of the novels. I like fantasy a lot. Lord of the Rings is probably my favourite series I have ever read. And I am currently working on my own fantasy trilogy. Albeit, it’s for a younger audience than that of Game of Thrones, but a fantasy nonetheless. I had every reason to pick up book one.

But there were a few things holding me back. Firstly, each book is a doorstop. If I was going to commit to this, it was going to take up a fair chunk of my time to get through the entire series - probably my entire 2025 reading schedule, if not longer. Secondly, George R. R. Martin hasn’t actually finished the series. So what if I get all that way and there’s no end to it? Not to mention that Martin takes a notoriously long time to write his books. It’s no small matter that he’s already 76 years old…

And finally, as I had mentioned, I didn’t really know of anyone who had read them, so couldn’t get any feedback on whether it was worth going for it. Then it struck me. Somebody had to be a trailblazer, somebody in my very small universe of people had to be the first. I looked in the mirror. That somebody was me.

And I’m glad I did.

The first 100 pages of the book were me getting to grips with the fact we have a never-ending list of POVs. It took me some time to figure out who the protagonist of this book is, and since finishing it, I still don’t know who it is. I came to discover that this was one of the enduring qualities of the book, and how wonderfully structured it is, that each character is following their own arc, giving the reader a universal view of the world within the overarching plot. It’s a huge undertaking that has been executed to perfection. Once I had got to grips with the story, I became excited about each character’s individual journey, as well as their varying styles, dialogue and tone. I was never following one linear narrative, which meant I never got bored.

Furthering my review, the other element of the book I found fascinating was Martin’s willingness to describe the brutality of the world they lived in, not too far removed from the actual times in British history of kings and queens and knights and castles. He gave a no-holds-barred account of the inner workings and lives of people, from child marriage and child murder, to torture and cruel and barbaric decisions by those in charge. Some sections are hard to read, but make Martin’s world even more rough around the edges, almost making a mockery of the word “fantasy” in its literal sense.

Needless to say, I powered through the book and cannot wait to get going on book two. It’s a gripping read that is brilliantly paced. And with so many multiple endings to the book through the many different lead characters, it leaves us on multiple cliffhangers. What more could we want!