A Game of Thones by George R. R. Martin

Thank goodness for Spring Break, or I never would have had time to lounge on my couch for hours on end reading. I did a lot of other things this week, too - spending time with family and friends, shopping, playing frisbee, visiting my old barn - and through reading I've also sat in on royal councils, fought is great battles and learned traveled the length of the world (among other things.)

Recently, I was introduced to George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series by my roommate, and once I knew what it was I've talked to a few others about how much they enjoy the series. It's currently a 5-book series with another 2 books in the works, and also a successfull HBO series in its third season with a fourth on the way.

If I could describe the GOT in three words, they would be: exciting, inappropriate and suspenseful. Being told from a different perspective in each chapter, there is "never a dull moment" throughout the story, one  of the reasons I haven't been able to put it down. I was wary of forming opinions on the characters because I knew there would be twists, turns and betrayals. It turns out that one character I wanted to like but thought might turn for the worse was killed because he held onto his honor; another that I greaty disliked was killed before he could really cause any trouble. A third that I pitied will have a much bigger part to play, and I have no idea how much trouble that one will cause.

At first, I didn't really understand the title of the book. Maybe if I had thought more about it, it would have made more semse to me earlier on, but as the story went on it became much more clear. A Game of Thrones, all those games that people play when power is the prize to be won. "When you play the game of thrones, you live or die," Queen Cersei tells Lord Stark more than once, and that lesson is learned the hard way by a large number of characters as the story progresses. It's almost a game for the reader to figure out who to trust and who will turn, who will live or die or flee.

When I read a book, I like to enjoy the story and be surprised when a big turn of events happens. This is a great book for someone to try and pick the truth out of the details and analyze each character as they think and act. However, I prefer to just sit back and immerse myself in this foreign world, to wait in suspense and wonder and fear and dream with the characters without trying to jump ahead and solve the mystery.

It's difficult to talk about these books without giving too much away, but I have my own quest ahead of me to continue reading Martin's incredible series, continuing with th second book A Clash of Kings. The title makes sense to me based on the last couple chapters of the first book, and I can't wait to see not only how hard these kings clash, but which kings will be doing the clashing amidst the confusion left by the bloody game of thrones.