About the Book: Winter is coming. 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. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. 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. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildlings 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.
Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. 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. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.
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.
About the Author: George R.R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally since then. He spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer-producer, working on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid ‘90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he’s allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris, and two cats named Augustus and Caligula, who think they run the place.
My Review: Many authors try to write fantasy books. George R.R.Martin succeeded. I could easily place this series at the same level of "The Lord of the Rings", by J.R.R.Tolkien or "Chronicles of Narnia: by C.S.Lewis. The author creates a whole new world and an incredible set of characters.
"A Game of Thrones" is the first book of this series called "Song of Ice and Fire". In this book we see the start and development of a series of stories that run in parallel, beginning with the Stark family. Eddard (Ned) Stark is the head of this family, Warden of the North in the kingdom of Westeros. His wife is Catelyn and he has 5 kids. The elder is Rob, followed by Sansa, Brandon, Arya and Rickon. He also has a "bastard", John Snow, that lives with them. His best friend is King Robert. They fought together in the battle that placed Robert as king, replacing the so called Mad King (house Targaryen). Robert's Hand died mysteriously and Robert travels all the way North to try to convince Ned to be his new Hand of the King, a position that is second only to the king. Accompanying him is his wife Cersei, from the house of Lanister, her brothers Jaime Lanister, a warrior (and her lover), and Tyrion Lanister, a dwarf. Also her three kids are in this trip, being Joffrey (the elder) the heir of the throne, a cruel boy. Another story running in parallel is the story of John Snow, Ned's bastard, that goes to defend the Wall when Ned travels South to help the king. The Wall is an ice obstacle constructed to protect the kingdom against the wildlings and the night walkers (army of the dead), in the far North of the realm. The third story is the story of Prince Viserys Targaryen and his sister Daenerys Targaryen, in exile at the other side of the ocean, after their father was deposed. And the story begins, full of intrigues, deceives, betrayals, love, cruelty, battles and a lot of endless action, all the good ingredients that makes this an instance classic for the ages...
If you are willing to spend hours turning pages and get involved in this incredible world, I highly recommend this book to your permanent library. A book cannot get better than this one.
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