Westeros, a land of intrigue, power struggles, and epic beards. The series proves the old truth that having an ‘R.R’ in your initials means you write excellent books.
I will happily admit I was late to the party when it came to Game of Thrones. One of my old teachers gave me a quick description and I decided it would be my December project. Well a number of sleepless nights and thousands of pages later, I have finished them all. With this qualification, alone I feel safe to give you my appraisal of the books.
First off, to effectively describe the series would be if you took all the best parts of medieval history, and smashed in a little magic, and some dragons. After all, if there is one thing we have all know it is that dragons are the in thing this season. The books are set amongst a number of locations, chiefly the land of Westeros. This is kind of like Britain, and even features a cool wall that would make Hadrian feel a little inadequate. This wall of course is meant to keep out more than blue painted savages, but for those of you that have not seen the HBO adaption, or read the books I will say no more to risk spoilers. Westeros itself is made up of several other kingdoms that were joined together by a previous ruler, who was subsequently overthrown by the now King Robert Baratheon. If you think I am throwing too much at you here then you should try reading the book. This is the only real negative to starting this series. The first book is a serious info-dump. It is comparable to the opening of Beowulf (no not the one with the CGI Jolie in it) with the introduction of all the individuals. However, the latest editions include some awesome faction trees so you can keep tract of who is who, if it is going to fast for you.
The books drip with culture and depth that really shows Martin put real soul into this universe. Cultures feel so real that you can really see the real life inspirations that went into them. This depth and range is also put into the characters themselves. Even side characters can suddenly burst forth with whole agendas and storylines. This was something I really enjoyed about the books. However, I will offer this one piece of advice.
“Become attached to no one”
George R.R Martin does not mind killing off characters. In fact, he probably kills off more characters than the Black Death killed off peasants. So enjoy the books, but do not become attached to the people that inhabit them. In an interview with Authors@Google, Martin described the process he goes through with this and said that he invests a lot in the characters, but the story always comes first.
Perhaps one of the most gripping part of the series is the focus on power. What it does to a person, how it is handled, and the challenges of it. Martin drew the example of Aragon in Lord of the Rings becoming the King, and the belief that good people become good rulers. Instead, Martin wanted to show that ruling is hard. This fact alone was the most interesting to me. Even when things went wrong, and I threw the book down in frustration. I was so hooked that I picked the book back up and kept reading.
As far as books go this series is a solid investment. Certainly, worth every cent, and with the publishers now marketing boxed sets it is a great time to get into the books. Whilst there is a HBO adaption of the show, Martin stated that the show has diverged from the books a number of times. So go straight to the main source.
Game of Thrones Book Series and my December project
Verdict: Money Well Spent
