A Game of Thrones!!!

The Front Cover

A Game of Thrones: (Kindle Edition) 5/5

Many people will have heard of ‘A Game of Thrones’, whether this is be through the hit HBO series based on the books or on the books themselves and it was something I had heard of but just dismissed. As I recently reviewed I got a kindle for Christmas and one of my work colleagues has been egging me on to watch or read the books, he has seen the TV series and is impressed. Well after ploughing through my usual post-Christmas reading material of James Patterson and many other crime authors I thought why not see how I find this book, well the first one at least.

The book series is actually called a song of ice and fire with the first book entitled a game of thrones, the blurb sounded interesting and although books set before modern technology came in are not normally my cup of tea I can normally take it with fantasy books.

I am not going to lie to you I was not gripped from the moment I opened the book (well opened the file containing the Kindle version of the book) as it took a while for me to get into it, you see we see the story from the point of view of multiple characters, mainly the Stark and Lannister families, but there are lots of characters, creatures and castles and a whole world with magic (not that there is really anything more than accusations of magic in the first book) and strange names to learn and plots / evil schemes to grasp.

Once you get up and running and get through the first beheading and the first sex scene you are well on your way to an enjoyable ride with a book that is clearly not aimed at children, do not mistake this for Harry Potter. The story soon picks up pace and you are thrown from city to forest, to boat, to castle, to faraway lands learning of each characters plots through the eyes of Kings, Princes, children, the poor and the soon to be dead waiting for each character to be delicately woven together in a deal, love or in all likelihood in a battle to the death.

You certainly cannot say that the author shies away from killing off a main character and therefore you soon have to realise that none of the characters you are beginning to love or hate are safe from the wrath of god, whether they believe in the old god or the seven god and nor does it matter how much they prey.

The header used for each chapter, nice to have something different. 

This book has gore, love, action, strange things that go bump in the night, plots, betrayal, mythical creatures, old stories that we know are going to be true, whores, knights, blood and it is so intense that you want to keep on reading to get to the next chapter on your favourite character and you are aware that if you put it down it is going to take 5 minutes to get back into the complex world that needs to fill your mind as you travel through the book.   

If you give this a fair chance you should not be disappointed though do go into it aware that the book is a long one and will not be completed until you have read the lot, currently this stands at 5 books with 2 more on the way this is an epic that will keep me going for some time.

Without giving too much away I think I can safely give you some background by saying that yes there is a throne and this is about the power struggle taking place between those who feel the thrown is rightfully theirs, those on the thrown and those who want it. The back story is told in a manner that makes it interesting and mysteries are implied that keep you intrigued and engrossed as you wonder who will be the next victim, what will be the next secret and ultimately who will win the game of thrones.