Book a Week 2012 #17

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Loved, loved, LOVED IT! Yay! Martin has been called the American Tolkien, and I'm a believer. He's a brilliant writer. He wove a story together that kept me on the edge of my seat, without resorting to surprise tactics. I was concerned about gratuitous violence and sex with a book set in a Middle-Ages-like land. But unlike Ken Follett, Martin didn't have to resort to graphic language and raunchy, macabre scenes. It was uh, pleasant? to have a beheading without a graphic description of it. It was enough to know it happened.

The characters are my favorite - I found myself liking almost every character. They were complex, deep, and you could understand the motivations behind their actions. (Say, again, unlike Follett. Please allow me to go off on a tangent - I adore this guy's review for Pillars of the Earth. Can you tell I really dislike Follett?) Back to Martin... caring about every character became a problem when they started to battle one another - who did I want to win? It was fun!

One way this book was distinctly better than Lord of the Rings and winning me over to the nickname of an American Tolkien? The battle scenes did not go on and on and on. Thank you!

I have not seen HBO's version of A Game of Thrones. I have a feeling that everything I like about the book would be undone on the small screen. Graphic, impossible to get to the motivations behind every character, and played up the battle scenes? Oh well. I'm off to read the next book in the series. :)