The first book in the series ‘A song of Ice and Fire’, titled ‘A Game of Thrones’, first released in 1996 by George R.R. Martin, has gained much fame from the new HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’. The setting is in a world very much in relation to our own history. Many aspects of A ‘Game of Thrones ‘are taken straight from our own medieval history, including the English War of the Roses, a series of battles for succession that took place in 15th-century England. Martin generally tells his story from eight different perspectives, though differing from book to book. Each perspective is held with a different chapter of the book, when the characters are shifted around, it allows Martin to to leave ample cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, and creating a sense of being “refreshed”.


In ‘A Game of Thrones’, death is pretty much routine, but conducted in such a way that it consults us of our own history as our own passage of time has gone by--with a river of blood behind it. Total obliteration is often the main cause for confrontations and splits between all characters, and by the end of the first book, the characters you assumed would be around for some time are left at the gallows, headless, alive and well, or simply gone.


Throughout the entire series of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, Martin mainly focuses on one continents-- Westeros, The Seven Kingdoms. However one character, Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen, the last of the great house Targaryen, has been forced to flee by the hands of the Baratheons and their bannermen to a different continent across the Narrow Sea as a young girl to avoid her death as well. Though the first time I personally encountered this Targaryen Lady, I truly did not know what to think. She was completely different, but easily became my favorite character through her cleverness and compassion toward others. She is also one of the only female characters with a perspective of her own, setting her apart from the male characters very easily.


‘A Game of Thrones’ is without any doubt one of the most interesting and enjoyable books have ever read. Closely in relation to J.R.R .Tolkien's ‘Lord of the Rings’, and Christopher Paolini’s ‘Inheritance Cycle’, I had no problem enjoying this series thus far. Though the books tend to be well over eight-hundred pages, sheer and undoubtedly dense labour to most people, it succeeds in captivating me well past acceptable hours after my bed-time. Martin knows exactly where to draw out the thin line between boredom, and where to spark curiosity with captivating information.