Book Review: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - George R.R. Martin

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - George R.R. Martin

Taking place nearly a century before the events of A Game of Thrones,  A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compiles the first three official prequel novellas to George R.R. Martin's ongoing masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. These never-before-collected adventures recount an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living consciousness.

3/5 stars (liked it)

This book contains three short stories dealing with a Hedge Knight named Ser Duncan and a small boy named Egg (Aegon Targaryen).  My favorite story is the first one where these two meet. The second story is okay but the third one is good.  I loved the illustrations in this book almost as much as the book itself.

Book Review: A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin

A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction.  In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death.  But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her.  As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys.  But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenery's claim to Westeros forever.

Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone--a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will face his greatest challenge.  For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  Some will fail, others will grow in strength of darkness.  But in time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.

3/5 stars (liked it)

These books are long and good.  But sometimes it feels like there are a lot of characters and a lot of points of views.  I think I would rather just pick less than 5 characters to closely follow and just focus on those.  My favorite character throughout the whole series is Tyrion an he is still my favorite.  I feel like some of the characters are whinny at times and need to be slapped.  Overall I will continue this series.

Book Review: A Feast For Crows - George R.R. Martin

A Feast For Crows - George R.R. Martin

After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce.  But it's not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather.  Now, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed while surprising faces--some familiar, others only just appearing--emerge from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenge of the terrible times ahead.  Nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages, are coming together to stake their fortunes...and their lives.  For at a feast for crows, many are guests--but only a few are the survivors.

2/5 stars (it was Ok)

Not my favorite book in the series.  I thought it moved slowly and had characters that I did not care too much about.  Although I really liked Arya in this one.  Also I love how some characters under different names will run into each other and not even know it.

Book Review: A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin

A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another is disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken.  Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms.  His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall.  But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun.  Robb plots against despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King's Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne.  Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world...

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrive from the outermost line of civilization.  In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others--a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable.  As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...

4/5 stars (really liked it)

This book started off a little slow but picked up pretty quickly.  Although I enjoy most of the characters sometimes I felt like there were too many points of view and it took a long time to get back to some of the characters.  This book contained three weddings and several deaths.  Some of the deaths I was surprised about, some I was not and some I was happy about.  Overall I like where all the characters went even if it wasn't always good.

Book Review: A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. And from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I liked this one better than the first book.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I already knew most of the characters, although a couple more get introduced.  I thought the Comet would be a bigger deal than it was but it was only really mentioned a few times at the beginning that once I got to the end of the book I had forgotten about it.  A character dies, whose death was a very big surprise for me and I actually had to go back and re-read to make sure I had read right.  I still love Dany's story and Arya's.  I've also found that Sansa has gotten more interesting in this book. The book ends with not much resolution, which makes me want to read the book even more.  Overall I really enjoyed this book.

Book Review: A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

In A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin has created a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantasy fans everywhere.

In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes of the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

 

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I finally finished it after starting it so long ago.  It was not because it was not a good book but it was so long and I read a few books while I was reading it.  I must admit that I watched the TV show before I started the books.  Although I really did want to read the book before the show started.  Overall I like the books, my favorite characters have to be Jon & Dany.  I can't wait to start the next book to see what happens to these characters and where their story is taking them.  I felt like a lot happened in the last third of the book and I could not put it down.  The book was written so that even if the character's name was not at the beginning of the chapter I could tell who's story it was.  The TV show stayed very true to the book.