Thursday, April 5, 2012

Book Review: A Song of Ice and Fire Series

Have you heard of a Song of Ice and Fire?  What about A Game of Thrones (you know, the hit HBO series)?  If you haven't, I think you may be living under a rock, and you have definitely been missing out.

 The book series is by George R.R. Martin.  The series will be a total of 7 books long, but here are the ones that currently exist: A Game of Thrones,  A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons.

I've read them all, and each one is amazing.  The series is addictive, and is just as good (maybe better) than The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Even though it is a fantasy series (mostly because there are dragons), it reads a lot like a great medieval fiction.  The books are roughly 1000 pages each, but I swear, they're really easy to get through, and they suck the reader into their world.

If you've seen the HBO series, it has so far covered much of the first book.  If you like the show, you will not be disappointed by the books.  If you love the books but haven't seen the show, you should also make a point to watch it-it does not disappoint.

The series is about the fictional Seven Kingdoms, where a power struggle is going on between the main houses: Baratheon, Lannister, Stark, and Targaryen.  After an incident in which the current king is killed (sorry I'm being vague, I don't want to write spoilers), these families vie to control the Seven Kingdoms.

It's also a world where each season can last years.  A long summer is ending, and winter is coming.  This brings further challenges by awakening creatures that have been dormant so long they're the stuff of fairytales and legend.

The series is full of war, death, intrigue, incest, and dragons (I'm really into the dragons, if you couldn't tell).  Although the plot is complex, each chapter is written from the POV of a different character.  All the main characters are fleshed out incredibly well, even though many of them are characters the reader will love to hate.

I highly recommend this series to everyone who loves fantasy, medieval historical fiction, dragons, and everyone who loves a good read.  I know I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the next novel.  It is definitely one of the better things I've read in my life (and I read a ton of books).

I wrote this post after seeing this prompt from Mama Kat's: 1.)   Book review time! Some people STILL read books...share one of your more recent reads and tell us what you thought!  Since I love to read, and I can't say enough good things about these books, I knew I had to write a review of it.

Have you read A Song of Ice and Fire or watched A Game of Thrones?  What do you think about it?


Mama’s Losin’ It

5 comments:

  1. Ah, now this trilogy I know. My husband has been steaming through the books and loved what he's read so far. He's keen to watch the series, so I'm thinking unless I get my act together soon I may just have to settle for the TV version - I dislike reading something after I've already viewed the show or film from which it was based ;)

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  2. I've heard of these books through teasers on book blogs, but didn't realize they were all part of one series. I'm not interested in this type of book so thanks for your review.

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  3. I'm glad to read this review-- I've been debating whether or not I should try out the books (we don't have HBO but I've seen the show advertised on other channels). I think I'll go ahead and read A Game of Thrones.

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  4. At last! Another person who has read the books! Although Martin has been called 'The American Tolkien', I don't really feel that the two compare. Tolkien was all about creating a mythology, while Martin's books are all about the people. He's very character driven, which has kept me reading even though I don't always like where the characters end up.

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  5. Thank you all for the comments! @MJ-The books are definitely worth the read! And even if you see the series first, the books are way more in depth. @Betsy-I hope you read them and love them! @TMW Hickman- I totally agree with you. I do think that both authors wrote epic series, though. I can't really think of anyone else who wrote such epic, multi-book stories, except maybe Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.

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