A Game of Thrones. By George R.R. Martin

Well, it sure has been a while.  I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, but I have continued to read.  I just haven’t posted anything about the books I’ve read thus far.  I’ve been doing a lot of entertainment reading.  I’m sure I will get back to some more non-fiction soon enough.  But for right now I’m truly enjoying just reading interesting and entertaining stories.  One of the TV shows that seems to be getting a bunch of attention right now is Game of Thrones.  I have yet to actually watch the show, but from what I’ve heard, the contents seem to be interesting to me.  Just like a lot of movies these days, Game of Thrones is based off of a book of the same title.  But unlike the show, the book series is actually called A Song of Fire and Ice and Game of Thrones is the first book in that series.  The series is written by George R. R. Martin.  Like many other fantasy style stories, it takes place in a fictional world that resembles mid-evil England.  The world is extremely large and there are a lot of characters and families to know.  But for the most part, this book revolves around the House Stark, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Targaryen.  It is a story of honor, friendship, betrayal, politics, loyalty, (or lack thereof) murder, and struggle.  Though the book hints to some elements of magic and the like, it is not like your typical fantasy story laced with wizards and magic. There aren’t elves or ogres running around. (Though they may come later in the series)  This is a story about humans.  This is a story about war and secrets and how they affect everyone.  Many fantasy books have great wars, but they only seem to affect the participants, very rarely do we get a glimpse of how the wars affect the other everyday inhabitants of the world.  It’s ugly, it’s brutal, and it’s not fair.  But then again when has war, or life for that matter ever been fair.  This isn’t like most fantasy novels.  There is lots of gray in this series.  There is no one that is 100% bad or 100% good. Characters die, even your favorite ones.  As I told Crystal, with this author, no one is off limits.  Everyone is fair game.  There is a lot of conflict, both physical fighting and between characters through threats and intrigue. If this book where a movie, it is definitely rated R. There is swearing and there is sex, just like in real life.  This book is very deep, very layered and very rewarding.  If you are looking for a very mature and break the mold type of fantasy story, you may want to check this one out.