If I had been reading a paper book, I would have a lot of holes in my walls from repeatedly throwing the books against them. Bad things happen to good people, and vice versa.
#Game of thrones series#
If you like to feel safe and secure when reading a book, this series is not for you. Some of them you will forget about entirely, as a whole book might go by before they pop up again. Some of them, mostly Tyrion Lannister, are very witty and humorous no matter what the situation, so that provides a little relief sometimes. Some of them you will hate and then come to love or pity, and the other way around, too. There are some characters that you will love and others that you will love to hate, and still others that you will hate to love. The number of characters and story lines that are converging on each other seems daunting at first glance, but I was surprised at how easily I could keep the major ones straight in my head. It is set in a world that seems to be based on Medieval England, but is not England nor any other place on this earth. Even worse, there's some really bad language. There is a lot of torture, violence, explicit sex, and explicit violent sex. (This would help me relate better to some of his characters, I guess.) So, for those of you who have not yet begun this series: If you are very squeamish, you'd better not start. Judging from the spacing of these first 5 books, I may have no fingers left by the time book 6 hits the presses. True to his nature, however, Martin is making no promises about when that will be. But I read all the books and am biting my nails waiting for the next one. Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Spawn of Satan top the list, along with accompanying adjectives. During the course of reading these books, I have called Martin everything but a good guy. This might be true if Tolkien had been a warped, sadistic bastard who enjoyed tormenting his readers. I have read a number of reviews comparing Martin to Tolkien. They had better hope that the last two books come out before I die. My sons have been disinherited several times during the reading process. Recently, they both accosted me about it from different parts of the country on my birthday, so I grudgingly agreed to try the first book. My sons, both of them "men grown," have been nagging me for at least two years to read these books. I'm going to use the word "read" instead of "listen" because it's all the same to me and "read" is shorter.
Besides, I think anyone new to the series should know what they're getting into right up front. I listened to them all, one right after the other, so it is difficult for me to review them separately. I understand that there are to be 7 books in this series, but as of this writing there are only 5.
Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki - whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister - the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind.Īll are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse - unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon his daughters Sansa and Arya and his bastard son, Jon Snow. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. Now the acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones - the masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon