“A Game of Thrones” is an epic fantasy that immerses its readers in a world startlingly similar to reality is George R. R. Martin’s first novel in the “A Song of Fire and Ice” series. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award, was nominated for the 1997 World Fantasy Award and the 1998 Nebula Award, and is currently on the “New York Times” Best Sellers list. It was quickly recognized in the fantasy world as one of the best novels after its release in 1996. To this day, some people still consider it to be in the upper echelon.
The novel begins with a scene of the six children of Ned Stark discovering a dead dire wolf, which coincidentally had six pups, and each child takes one. The wolf pups will later go on to mirror the personalities of the kids, which is apparent from the fact that the five white ones go to Ned’s legitimate children, while the grey one pairs up with Ned’s bastard son, Jon.
“A Game of Thrones” touches on many political issues including royal families, the succession to the throne, and foreign nations. It also touches on some of society’s ills, such as incest and disabilities in many forms such as dwarfism and the loss of limbs.
Each chapter is told through the vivid perspective of a unique and individual character. The depth of Martin’s characters is amazing and is said to have made many readers not want to read another fantasy novel ever again. Each character has his or her ideas, motives, and intrigues, and no two are alike. There are no dumb characters here; each person has their own level of intelligence, which is frequently displayed through their actions.
The other characters initially introduced are members of the Lannister family and they share a connection to the Starks through Cersei Lannister’s husband, the King, who is the best friend of Ned Stark. The Lannisters tend to show us the harsher side of the world with their family’s inner strife, beginning with the incestuous relationship between Cersei and her brother, Jamie.
Martin has become famous for his use of descriptive language and lush imagery to create a world that all readers will immediately feel like they are a part of. Authors of fantasy novels are often criticized for their inability to kill characters that they spent so much time developing. However, this is not the case with Martin; you quickly learn the lesson that no character is immune to death, and you should not get too deeply attached to any of the people in “A Game of Thrones.” Martin very successfully portrayed a world of fantasy without the use of ‘fantastical’ elements, like magic or super-powerful characters. Every character in this story can easily be found in the world that we live in, and they are treated as such.
“A Game of Thrones” has become so popular that it is being made into a TV series on HBO created by David Benioff and Dan Weiss in the spring of 2011, with names such as Sean Bean and Lena Headey starring in the program. This kind of syndication undoubtedly makes the novel a must-read, and this is now your chance to read it before the TV series becomes popular. Even so, this eight-hundred page novel should be populating your bookshelf if you are a die-hard fantasy lover. Overall, a sparkling 5 out of 5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment