Book Review - A Game of Thrones

Hey everyone,

I really have no idea how is best to start this review because this book is so complex but i'm going to give it a go. 

A Game of Thrones is a fantasy novel written by George R. R. Martin. In this book there are around 70 chapters and each of the chapters are written by characters from different parts of the world in which they live, all taking part at the same time. Confused? I was too until I started reading this book and I instantly fell in love with it.

To start off i'll tell you about how I came across this novel.

My parents started watching AGOT when season 1 came out and I was never interested in the TV show but then I started my reading challenge and I followed a lot of Book Tubers and they all had great things to say about this series. The first person that I noticed had read the series and had explained it so well that it intrigued me was Ingrid or missglamorazzi on youtube. She explained the characters and the story so well that I actually considered reading it. After that I thought I would leave it for a while and see how I got on with trying to get to 50 books (I am now at 31) after that I was at college one day and I noticed one of my friends Alan (Shout out to you if you are reading this :)) was reading the first book so I asked him what it was like. He told me all about it and even though I still wasn't sure I was definitely intrigued. I did some research online, I read the first line of the Hobbit and got bored so I wondered if it would be like Lord of the Rings or not, but for anyone wondering it definitely isn't. I read that it was more about politics and that scared me even more. After deliberating for months I decided to finish my 50 books and then give it a go. Then, my step-dad bought it on his Kobo and asked me if I wanted to read a few chapters to see what I thought. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Plot...

The story is set in Westeros or the Seven Kingsoms where there is a North and a South. The King lives in the South and the Starks live in the North and right at the top of Westeros there is a wall where the members of the Night's Watch guard the kingdom from the monsters that lurk beyond the wall. The world that George R. R. Martin creates is something that you can so easily visualise which I love. Even without having seen the TV show I feel like I know the world and it's characters personally. I have since looked up the characters and who plays them in the TV show and I have a definitive idea of what each character looks like, I found this so much easier simply because it's easier to have a face to put to the many names in this novel.

Characters...

Each chapter is written by a series of characters in the novel, these characters are

Bran Stark
Catelyn Stark
Daenerys Targaryen
Eddard Stark
Jon Snow
Arya Stark
Tyrion Lannister
Sansa Stark

Now to the difficult part of explaining their relations to each other

Lord Eddard Stark (Ned) is the lord of Winterfell where he lives with his wife and 6 children, Catelyn Stark (nee Tully) is Ned's wife and together they have 5 children; Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon while Ned Stark has a bastard son named Jon Snow. 

In the south in King's Landing lives the King, his wife, Cersei Lannister, and their 3 children along with his wives 2 brothers Jaime and Tyrion Lannister. Their children are Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen with Joffrey being the oldest and heir to the throne.

There is also Daenerys who lives somewhere different entirely and even I am not yet sure where that is, she lives with her brother Viserys who will do anything to get back the crown that he believes rightfully belongs to the Targeryn bloodline and in order to re-gain the throne he will do anything including selling his younger sister off to be married to a man she cannot even converse with because of the language barrier between them.

In my personal opinion I have a few characters that I prefer and a few that i'm not so excited about when it comes to their chapter. Bran's chapter was the first of the book and for me I loved his perspective, he is young, innocent and yet strong which I love about him. Catelyn was another character that I liked in the beginning but as I learned more about her personality I discovered that she has a far more sinister side to her especially concerning Jon Snow and the way which she speaks to him, for this reason only is why I completely went off her character. Daenerys is one of my top 3 characters in the book, she is young and innocent and is often mistreated by her evil brother, Viserys, her parts of the book have progressed so far even in a few chapters from being a innocent, naive girl into a magnificent, independent woman. Ned's chapters, for me at least, are my least favourite. They go into a lot about the politics of the land and the king but even though they are my least favourite the book wouldn't be the same without them, they set the scene, let you know as a reader about what is going on behind the closed doors of the kingdom and help you to realise what is going on inside the castle. Jon Snow's chapters are okay, it's nice to see what's going on at the Wall and on the Nights Watch and hearing about all of the people up there and the terrible things that they have done but these chapters are boring to me. UPDATE: I've grown to love Jon's chapters and I must admit he is now one of my favourites. I'd much rather read about where something is going on apart from fighting. Arya Stark is one of a kind, she is a tomboy which isn't something that was frequent in those days and she lives life the way she wants, she is adventurous and brave and I find her so fun to read. Tyrion's chapters always have me in stitches and even though I despise the family that he is a part of I think that he is so funny, he has a great sense of humour and often makes fun of himself for being a dwarf, I look forward to reading his chapters a lot in the  next book. Sansa Stark is another character that I like, she is the more girly sister of Arya who is to wed Joffrey the king's son, for this I feel so sorry for her for because, to put it politely, Joffrey is a complete and utter idiot.

So to narrow it down my 5 favourite characters are:
Daenerys Targeryn
Jon Snow
Bran Stark
Sansa Stark
Tyrion Lannister

And 5 least favourite are:
Cersei Lannister
Joffrey Baratheon 
Jaime Lannister
Viserys Targeryn
Catelyn Stark 

Anyway that's all for me and I hope you all enjoyed this huge review compared to my usual quick ones.

Talk to you all soon 

Leigh xoxo