Book 24 of the 50 Book Challenge

A Game of Thrones  by George R R Martin, 807 pages

Started April 6th, finished April 17th

This was chosen due to it appearing on my TV soon.  I always prefer to read the story before I see an adaptation.  When it arrived I was more than a little daunted.  It's bloody massive!

I'm surprised I hadn't heard of the book before the adaptation.  It seems to be heralded as a fantasy milestone.   I haven't dabbled in the fantasy genre for that long I'm totally out of the loop.

The book is chopped into easy digested chapters.  These chapters tell the tale of about 5/6 of the main characters.  It's a good way to keep up with the goings on many miles apart.  The characters are well painted, if not all that original.  The pace is kept up, thankfully or I don't think I'd have made it through.  The lands are typical fantasy places.  Cold North, warmer South and hot across the sea.

I was asked by Karode which my favourite characters were.  I'd have to say my favourite would be Arya Stark.  A little girl who doesn't want to be ladylike.  I wonder who that reminds me of ;-)  Tyrrion Lanister is also a favourite.  I enjoyed trying, and failing, to figure him out.  Same with Petyr Baelish (can't wait to see him played by Aidan Gillen). Really I'd have to say that all the 'good' characters, namely the Starks and a few others, I liked.  The 'grey area' characters, of which there are a few, I enjoyed.  The 'bad' characters however I found boring and predictable.  

The strong point of this novel has to be the characters for me.  I found the whole thing brought nothing new to a genre I seem to have fell out of love with.  I can't say it's a bad book.  It just didn't bring anything exciting.  The scope of it means I have been tempted to know more of events.  But, can I be bothered reading more of these doorstop books?  I'm really not sure I need to know that badly.  The closing scene of the book put me off greatly too.  It was slightly ridiculous and too fantastic for my tastes.

The killer for me maybe not reading any more is the HBO adaptation.  I've seen the first 10 minutes and it looks amazing.  The production seems to have spared no expense and the landscapes seem to be as lavish as they need to be.  From what I've seen of the casting I have no worries there either.  I may just watch it and hope they finish the series of books.  I could read three other complete tales in the time it takes me to read one book of this serial.  If I do return it won't be for a while yet.

Roll on tonight.  I want to see the next 50 minutes!

 3 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 24, Pages - 7,549

Next - The Meaning of Sport by Simon Barnes