A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire Book One
By George R R Martin
Published by Bantam

"In the game of thrones, you win or you die." Take warning readers, Mr. Martin means what he writes. And boy, does he write! And well!

This first book of the Song of Ice and Fire series introduces us to the Seven Kingdoms and its current tribulations: murderous strife for the ruling seat of the Iron Throne, an exiled princess in possession of three not-so-fossilized dragon eggs, and the threat from north of the Wall - the wildlings and worse creatures are astir and may be a threat to match the internal one inside in the Kindoms' capital. This book is a superb start to what I think is proving to be one of the best fantistorical series ever written.

The Stark family occupies the last holdfast in the north before the Wall. The Night's Watch are the a brotherhood which guard the Wall and keep the Others and wildlings north of the Wall from crossing south to threaten the Seven Kingdoms. They forswear family, women, lordly allegiances and worldly possessions for the greater good of the Seven Kingdoms. But lately, their numbers are dwindling and their rangers sent to patrol the other side of the Wall are disappearing. Only the Starks are aware of the peril beyond the Wall, but their family is torn apart and spread across the kingdom when King Robert orders his close friend, Lord Eddard Stark, to travel back to the capital to be the Hand of the King. The king's selfish request and blindness to the real threates of the kingdom is the undoing of the hard-fought peace he and Eddard won in their youth.

Now who will ensure the safety of the Seven Kingdoms when winter is coming?

Will it be Jon Snow, Eddard's bastard son, who joins the Night's Watch and faces the true terrors of the winter?

Will it be Rob Stark, Eddard's eldest son, who must now act as Lord of Winterfell when things go array with his father in the capital?

Will it be Caitlyn Stark, Eddard's wife, who must now counsel her eldest son in times of war as well as solve the murder attempt against her younger son Bran, who may have seen something that could unlock deep dark secrets about the royal family?

Or could it be Arya Stark, the youngest daughter who is resourceful, tenacious, handy with a sword  and possibly the only honest soul trapped in the royal castle?

Are you dying to read A Game of Thrones yet? You should be! Martin does a superb job of keeping you on your toes with royal and blood thirsty intrigue, battles, and whispered secrets you could almost believe yourself in the castle of King Henry VIII. However, Martin never lets you stray too far into the historicity of his world without reminding you of the larger threat of things fantastical...it's like he keeps the dragons and Others in your peripheral vision and then...BAM!...just when your heart couldn't bee squeezed anymore by the hopeless plight of the good guys fighting in the castles and battle grounds, those terrible creatures of nightmares show their shadows in the story and your skin goes crawling with goosebumps.

I give this book ten toes and ten fingers way up! I think that readers age 17 and up will enjoy this book most, but only if you can dedicate a few hours to get completely lost in Martin's superb story telling.