Game of Thronesby George R R Martin
Published: August 6th 1996
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Genre: Epic Fantasy, adult
*this will not be a spoiler free review*
It's hard to write a review about this completely epic book without totally ruining the plot so instead I will do a character discussion with a few of the characters because if I talked about them all this post would be about 10 pages long.
Favourite characters:
Daenerys Targaryen: Dany is without a doubt my favourite character in this book, and possibly one of my favourite characters of all time. I think that she handles everything she is forced to deal with in such an amazing way. It's brilliant to finally read about a female protagonist that isn't whiney and dependent on men, the last chapter of this book showed that she can survive on her own without the safety of a man. Also she is of the dragon blood! Which is obviously extremely cool. Her brother Viserys is such an idiot and I was very satisfied with his ending, he was obnoxious and was extremely abusive towards Daenerys often telling her that he would happily let all of the Dorthraki rape her if it meant he could get an army! I am really excited about watching Dany's character grow throughout the next books and hopefully seeing her get to the Iron Throne.
Arya Stark: Again Arya is another very strong female protagonist who knows her own mind. Despite being brought up to be a lady she knows that she wants to learn how to fight with a sword and I love the fact that Ned (her father) encourages her to be different and to learn how to fight despite the fact that it goes against all of the norms that are expected of noble women. There are a few moments when you can see just how young she actually is but despite this she is the most badass nine year old I've ever read about. She's extremely independent and wild-spirited girl and she is stark contrast to her older sister Sansa. Arya is another character I am excited to read about and I hope she finds safety.
Cersei Lanister: Cersei is the Queen and later the Queen's Mother and although she doesn't have her own POV in this book I regardlessly found myself becoming very interested in her character and extremely excited to hear more from her later in the series. She is incredibly ruthless and strong, she is feared throughout all of the Seven Kingdoms and is the backbone of the royal court. Her relationship with her brother, Jamie, was a little disturbing but seeing as this is from a completely different time relationships like that weren't that taboo I suppose, the only problem is is that Joffery was the result of it.
Tyrion Lanister: Tryrion is a dwarf and so in this book where being able to fight defines you as a man, he has to use other ways to make his mark in the Game of Thrones and his mark on the world. He instead uses his brain and cunning to get what he wants and to gain respect. His wit is pretty funny and even just from reading the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series there was a large character progression already and so I can't wait to see what happens later on in the series.
As you can see the majority of my favourite characters are female, I think that has a lot to do with the fact that although this is an epic fantasy book which includes a lot of discussions about War and battles, George R R Martin can create strong and incredible female protagonists. He doesn't belittle them and he makes them just as strong a player in the Game of Thrones as any of the men he writes about and no character is under written or under developed.
Characters who I hated*
*not because they were written badly in anyway at all, just because of their personalities. I actually think that an author that can write characters that make your skin crawl are among the best.
Joffery Baratheon: Of course King Joffery had to be the first upon this list. I genuinely haven't hated a character this much since Professor Umbridge (Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix). The way he treats Sansa and the way he handled the whole Ned Stark situation made me want to punch him in the face. He didn't even have POV in this book and yet he is still my most hated character, I think that says a lot.
Sansa Stark: I hated her until her last chapter up until then all I did was roll my eyes because she is honestly the most pathetic, goody-two-shoes ever. She was ridiculously annoying and was constantly trying to get Arya into trouble despite the fact that it usually was as much Sansa's fault as hers. She just seemed so ridiculously naive, for God sake Sansa your father is about to be executed, your sister has run away, your eldest brother has called the bannermen and is marching into War and your younger brother has lost use of his legs and all you care about is your dress and your 'gorgeous Prince Joff'. Stupid girl.
So all in all as you can see I absolutely LOVED this book. It was action right from the first page, the character development was like something I have never read before and the world building was equally as fantastic. I can't wait to continue on with this series and although these are pretty hefty books averaging on about 800-1000 pages do not let this put you off because they are completely captivating. The amount of characters can get slightly confusing at the start but just use the appendix at the back and you should be fine because around the 100-200 page mark you are completely familiar with nearly everyone.
5/5 STARS
