Game of Thrones, by R.R. Martin

A good number of people told me that Game of Thrones by R.R. Martin was good before I decided to check it out. I was skeptical because I lost my patience with Lord of the Rings, liked but was not a huge fan of either Star Wars or Star Trek, and lost interest after about five books of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series. However, since this book series was made into a close-fitting television series and is still going strong, I thought maybe this one was worth a better chance.

There are five books so far, and I'm only at the beginning of the second one. I've made the decision to only blog once about a story if it's a series, instead of a single blog entry for each book that I've read like I've done before. This is also because, with so many sites to monitor, I'm barely keeping up - what with my 2-10pm teaching job (with occasional Saturdays, as it turns out). Maybe I'm just having trouble managing my time.

Martin gives each character a very distinct voice while rotating them around. He's also famous for killing characters off mercilessly, so there's plenty of room for new characters all the time. His descriptions are well balanced with his dialogue and action scenes, though sometimes the humor is a bit dark and it feels like everyone is laden with angst. The choices he gives his characters are very life changing and dramatic, so sometimes they take a while thinking everything through. It's still very plot driven though.

Even though it's clearly fantasy and there's mention of dragons, they only appear at the end of the first book, and that makes me wonder if they're going to play much of a big role in the rest of the books. The psychological atmosphere of each character is usually fairly and understandably anxiety ridden, and it's rare when a person or two gets a mental break and feels serene for once. An example was when Catelyn was watching her son Robb Stark prepare for battle - she loves him, she's worried but she has huge faith in him and so was determined to stay strong for him. Arya is another character who's somewhat lighthearted, if only because she is so young. I tend to favor the direct but bitter humor that Tyrion Lannister or Jon Snow gives off.

This is not a book I can read well when I am tired, because the dynamic and intrigue between all the characters either demand nearly my full attention or I'm bound to miss something. They're somewhat subtle and very politically oriented. No one seems honest if they want to survive in such a world. Martin doesn't flinch with blood and gore, which should be evident with his merciless killing of characters. He also doesn't flinch with making them mad as hatters, and sometimes it's hard to follow someone's train of thought - like Danearys. She is fascinating because, while it's easy to be sympathetic with her, it's hard to tell what she's thinking sometimes. Because this is a fantasy series, there's a possibility that Danaerys and Bran - both characters that have a lot of dreams - are youth infused with magic, and the way nothing makes sense yet is just waiting for an exposition in a later book.

I think Martin's strongest point is that, while these are fantasy books - they are fantasy books for adults, with a variety of very strong characters who make difficult and strategic choices. This is appealing because so far there's not much out there in the fantasy genre that appeals to only adults, without having the good and evil dichotomy that Star Wars and Lord of the Rings have. While the ideas of good and evil exist in this series as well, there are many grey characters. Ned Stark was a purely good character, and he was the first to die off. The Others are pure evil, but they haven't made solid appearances yet.