A Game of Thrones

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”

-Cersei Lannister

 

Hello everyone!

I know I haven’t written a blog post in a really long time. Well, I’ve been traveling a lot! But I find  that traveling gives me inspiration to read and write.

So here I am again! Let me introduce you to one of the best books of our time…

A Game of Thrones

This book was the first of the series, A Song of Ice and Fire. It was written by George R. R. Martin in 1996. It won several awards, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’ve read plenty of good books without awards.

Anyway, the plot is fascinating. The first book focuses on the Stark family.

Here are the characters of house Stark:

Eddard (Ned) Stark

Catelyn Stark (Ned’s second wife)

Robb Stark (Ned and Catelyn’s first child)

Sansa Stark (Daughter of Ned and Catelyn)

Arya Stark (Daughter of Ned and Catelyn)

Bran Stark (Son of Ned and Catelyn)

Rickon Stark (Youngest child of Ned and Catelyn)

Jon Snow (Bastard son of Ned Stark.)

There you go! All of the Starks. Now the plot of the first book!

 

Plot: A Game of Thrones

I will try to sum up the book without too many gory details, too many sexual details, or just too many details in general. (There may be spoilers!)

Believe it or not, A Game of Thrones has more of a story than people will think. Most people tend to see it as a book completely made of sex and violence. I have to admit, that yes, there is a lot.

But before you scream and cover your ears, first let me tell you the actual plot.

So, I mentioned the Starks. The Starks hold power over Winterfell.

Well, all of the Starks, (except for Catelyn) are on a hunting excursion with King Robbert Baratheon. They discover a family of direwolf pups, one for each child.

Then they return to Winterfell. Ned receives news that Robbert’s advisor,Jon Arryn, is dead.

Ned’s son Bran is pushed from a tower after discovering Cersei and Jamie Lannister, (Brother and sister.) having sex. Bran’s legs are paralyzed.

Ned is appointed new advisor, so he and his two daughters Sansa and Arya depart for King’s Landing, the royal capital.

Sansa is betrothed to Joffery Baratheon, the Cersei and Robbert’s son. Arya hates Joffery, (Go Arya!) and beats him up.

Our story also follows thirteen year-old Daenerys (Dany) Targaryen. She is from Essos, a continent near Westoros. Her brother Viserys betroths her to Khal Drogo, leader of the Dothraki. Dany receives three dragon eggs as a wedding gift. She eventually learns to love Drogo.

Drogo is injured, and a healer with evil intentions sacrifices Dany’s child. But Dany is the blood of the dragon.

She burns the healer, and the dragon eggs. She herself walks into the flames, and returns with three hatched dragons.

Meanwhile, at the Wall. I forgot to mention the Wall. It’s a huge wall, on Westoros designed to keep the Wildlings on the north side from invading. Jon Snow joins the Night’s Watch, and joins forces with the other recruits against their instructor.

Then news of tragady reaches Jon Snow. He attempts to return to Winterfell, but is prevented by his comrades, who are loyal to the Night’s Watch.

Back at Winterfell, Catelyn meets Tyrion Lannister, the crippled brother of Cersei and Jamie. But Catelyn thinks Tyrion attacked Bran, so she arrests him. (By the way Tyrion is a viewpoint character. He’s one of my favorites.)

Tragedy strikes. (I won’t say what it is! Ha ha.)

Sansa and Arya are both there. But Arya escapes, while Sansa is held at King’s Landing.

Robb Stark gathers an army. Tyrion fights too, on the other side. Tyrion suffers an injury, but both characters survive.

Robb is made King in the North.

 

So that’s the first book. It’s a good, long, read. A fantastic read, at that. I won’t cover the rest of the series, because (Guess what?) it’s not complete. That’s right, we’re still waiting for The Wind of Winter to come out. And after that, there is one more book!

But even though it’s not a complete series, it is still one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Ten unicorns!

So after you read this book, (And love it as I do!) next is A Clash of Kings. Then the next three, which I’m sure you’ll love as well. 🙂

There are also so many books on the history of Westoros! I would recommend A Game of Thrones to lovers of J. R. R. Tolkien. The history and world building is similar, but clearly different. Also recommended to hardcore-fantasy readers. (High Fantasy, is the category.)

And remember!

 

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”

-George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons