A Song of Ice and Fire Book Covers
Welcome to Westeros.
A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic fantasy series first published in 1996. The immense popularity of the books expanded the planned trilogy to seven books, with five of them published and the sixth tentatively scheduled to come out this year. In 2011, the books were adapted into the vastly popular Game of Thrones TV show. Together, the books have sold over 60 million copies and the TV show defeated The Sopranos to become the most highly watched HBO series.
The Stark family as portrayed in the show.
The plot of A Song of Ice and Fire will take several blog posts to explain properly. In a very inadequate nutshell, the story concerns the struggle for the Iron Throne to rule the seven kingdoms of Westeros after the death of King Robert Baratheon. The story started focused on the six Stark siblings – Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and the bastard Jon Snow – and continued to follow their lives scattered across the continent. Meanwhile, the cold and power-hungry Queen Cersei Lannister, Robert’s wife, struggles to hold onto her dwindling control of the kingdom. She also hides the terrible secret that her three children, heirs to her throne, are actually bastards fathered by her twin brother, the brilliant swordsman Ser Jaime Lannister. Their younger brother Tyrion fights extreme prejudice due to being born a dwarf, and uses his superior intelligence and cunning to manipulate his way through the world. Robert’s younger brother Stannis Baratheon challenges Cersei and her children’s legitimacy for the throne, and he is heavily influenced by the mysterious priestess Melisandre. Stark family reject Jon Snow becomes a member of the Night’s Watch and protects the wall from the undead White Walkers. Last but not least, Daenerys Targaryen, daughter of the king who Robert Baratheon usurped the throne from, lives in exile across the ocean. She goes from being sold to a nomadic tribe leader to a strong capable queen, and the “mother” of three dragons.
The Lannister siblings in the show
What led to the popularity of this series? In my opinion, there are three reasons. The first is the sheer volume of the story. A Song of Ice and Fire is huge, with each novel being close to or over a thousand pages long. In many ways, the story is like a (far more interesting) history textbook, because George R. R. Martin covers events in all the major cities and the lives of hundreds of characters. While most books are content with one narrator, the five books in total have had 29 POV narrators. The cast of the show Game of Thrones is said to be the largest on television, and even the show had to cut some book characters out. A Song of Ice and Fire is not for the easily confused.
Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. Believed by some fans to symbolize the “ice and fire” in the title of the series.
Second, the books are very adult in nature. Sex is a major plot point and very graphic. The gory images are not for the faint of heart. The books have featured characters being gored to death by a boar, beheaded, poisoned, having their skulls crushed in, having molten gold poured on their heads, thrown off a mountain, thrown off a tower, murdered by shadows, murdered by undead White Walkers, drowned, burned, the list goes on and on. Rape, torture, and incest are common. Fortunately for these books, sex and violence sell very well.
Warning: The video below contains very graphic content. Watch at your own risk. Also, spoiler alert.
Lastly, there is no defined main character, or even group of main characters. No one in Westeros is safe. In the first book, Ned Stark narrates the majority of the chapters, and the story centers around the Winterfell patriarch and his family. Typically, a protagonist like Ned would be protected by every deus ex machina the author can throw at him. But, breaking all rules of popular novels, Ned Stark is beheaded towards the end of A Game of Thrones in front of his two daughters. On the flip side, Jaime Lannister is portrayed as a heartless monster in the first book as he tosses the seven year old Bran Stark off a tower and permanently cripples him. By the third book, he becomes a major narrator. We get to see his story, witness his pain as he loses his right hand and his doubts with the love of his life (who is also his twin). Jaime becomes a lot more sympathetic and is one of the more popular characters today. Fans of ASOIAF live in permanent fear that their favorite characters will soon die and their least favorite characters will reform and become likable.
A Song of Ice and Fire is fast paced, intense, intricate and almost overwhelming. Reading the books is one heck of a ride and has left me screaming at the pages or throwing novels across the room. It rightfully deserves its position as one of the best fantasy sagas of the new century!
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Okay, so I have watched a couple episodes of Game of Thrones and it’s already complicated. I don’t understand why it is so hard to accept the oldest son, I mean is it really that big a deal? And why does the Queen or whoever she is get so upset when she sees her husband flirting with other women when she’s having relations with her son, or stepson, whoever he’s supposed to be. I am so confused. But it IS extremely interesting.
I read the first four novels, and you’re right; Game of Thrones is crazy complicated! I thought the books were well-written and the story really engaging (my favorite character is probably Jon Snow), but I was always a little disappointed by just how bleak the stories are. GoT has a reputation for the “everyone dies” motif, which is totally true, but in reality the whole storyline itself kind of leaves you feeling drained, which is why I sort of fizzled out after the fourth book. Hopefully I’ll get back into them this summer, so I can find out what happens to the dragons!
Overwhelming is the best way to describe Game of Thrones in my opinion. If it was the end of my Senior Year and I still had bundles of time to waste, I would definitely get into Game of Thrones. However, I don’t have that kind of time anymore. My friends always tell me that it’s “the best show in television history”, and I don’t doubt that it’s an incredible show, but I just don’t feel like I have the time to familiarize myself with the hundreds of characters in the show. The books are just as much of a time commitment being that they are so long. I may be missing out on a great television and book series, but I just can’t force myself to commit to something that could take months, maybe even over a year, to catch up on.
I am not familiar with Game of Thrones personally but I have many friends who are huge fan of the books and the show. It’s amazing to me how much it has become part of the popular culture, both the books and the show. I have never watched an episode, but I know who Daenerys and Jon Snow are. I know a lot of the huge spoilers of the shows without having seen it.
I don’t think there are many other series like this one that have permeated the culture in the same way for as long as it has, besides maybe Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. Maybe I’ll have to give the show a try.
Although I never have read the books or watched the Game of Thrones, I have heard quite a lot about the series! From what you posted, the plot twists appear to be very dramatic and explicit which I am a big fan of. Perhaps, if I ever find extra time in my busy schedule of sleep and Netflix, I will have to check it out!
I have never had the chance or the desire to watch Game of Thrones, but you really covered a lot and went into detail here, so it is very possible that this will be my next show!
This is one of my little brother’s favorite series (book & TV), but I’ve only ever seen snippets of it when I’ve walked into the room when he’s watching it. I think that even though I was a big fantasy fan when I was younger, I wouldn’t be able to get into this series for the graphicness you described. But I love the idea that the main characters are never safe. I think that it makes the story richer that you never know when your hero might be taken out of it.
I have never watched Game of Thrones or read the books. So your blog post was quite educational for me. Geez! So much happens in these books, it is insane! I am not sure if the series is for me because of how gruesome it is, but after reading this I kind of want to give it a try and start reading the books!
I love Game Of Thrones. I love that it’s complex and intricate and wonderful. I watch an alarming amount of TV and Netflix. I seriously consider myself an expert and can say with certainty that GOT is one of the best series in the history of television. The viewer becomes so invested in each character which makes their deaths feel like someone close to you died. On multiple occasions I have stared at a blank screen for five minutes processing what just happened in the crazy episode. I love that it makes you think and feel. Each time you brought up a dead character it genuinely made me sad, and I couldn’t bear to watch the 10 best deaths montage. I love George R.R. Martin but I also really hate him. Perhaps I am being overly dramatic but this show is amazing and I definitely plan on starting the books this summer. Oh and I am convinced “Ice and Fire” is Snow and Daenerys just saying.