Minor Thoughts from me to you

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As you may be aware (he said dryly), this is the first book of George R.R. Martin’s wildly successful fantasy series, “Game of Thrones”. I really like this book. I know it’s true because I managed to reread it and there are very, very few books that I can stand to reread.

This book meets most of my criteria for being both entertaining and engaging. It has a grand scope, many complex characters, and massive world building with a fine attention to detail. It’s true that the novel sprawls over more than 800 pages but Martin makes good use of that length, through detailed world building.

Most of the story takes place in the land of Westeros, among the Seven Kingdoms. It’s a world where magic used to exist but most people believe that the magic has faded out of the world. The last of the dragons is dead and the other magical creatures exist only in fairy tales told to children. It’s a world where the seasons last for years instead of months. Summer has been long, more than 14 years, and many people don’t remember the harshness of Winter.

The history of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms is embedded deeply into the story, making the world feel large and expansive. The story revolves around the seven Great Houses and focuses primarily on 3: the Starks, The Lannisters, the Targaryens. Each has their own peculiar history, traits, tendencies, and retainers. The characters in each House are fairly detailed. Everyone has their own unique personality and acts according to their own motivations and those of their House. The richness, depth, and complexity of these characters is a big part of what draws me into this world.

The details of the world are another element that really draws me in. For instance, many of the Lords, being quite imperfect people, father bastards. A bastard isn’t entitled to his (or her) father’s name but needs a name nonetheless. So, each region of Westeros has its own surname for bastards.

Stone was a bastard’s name in the Vale, as Snow was in the north, and Flowers in Highgarden; in each of the Seven Kingdoms, custom had fashioned a surname for children born with no names of their own.

Mix all of this together and you get quite a stew of motivations: greed, revenge, lust for power, duty, fear, loyalty all leading to a constant maneuvering for power in the Game of Thrones. As the Lannisters, Stars, and Baratheons jockey for power no one will move through the story unscathed.

On to the spoilers. Since I’m reading through the series, in anticipation of the release of the fifth book, I decided to keep notes of what happens to each of the major characters in each book.

• Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark—Robb Stark inherited the Lordship of the North when Eddard Stark was executed for treason. He’s currently at Riverrun, having just won a surprise victory over the Lannister forces and his bannermen have just proclaimed him King in the North, to avoid pledging fealty to either Renly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, or Joffrey Baratheon/Lannister.
• Arya Stark—Has escaped King’s Landing is headed North with Yoren, of the Night’s Watch.
• Sansa Stark—Is currently being held as a hostage of the Lannisters, in King’s Landing.
• Tyrion Lannister—Is with his father’s forces, on the Trident, but is about to head to King’s Landing to try to knock some sense into his nephew’s (King Joffrey’s) head.
• Jamie Lannister—Is a prisoner of Robb Stark’s forces, having been captured during the battle for Riverrun.
• Cersei Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon—In King’s Landing, ruling.
• Daenerys Targaryen—On the Dothraki sea. Khal Jogo has just died and her dragons have just hatched. Her pitifully small group is deciding where to go next.
• John Snow—On the Wall, with the Night’s Watch. He’s preparing to go North of the Wall, to find out what happened to his uncle Benjen Stark and to investigate the suddenly reawakened threat of the wights and the other creatures of the cold. He’ll be accompnying the Lord Commander of the Watch, Lord Mormont.
• Bran Stark—A cripple, confined to Winterfell, longing to act a man, as his brother Robb does.