I just finished reading A Game of Thrones. It was the first fictional book that I've read in quite some time and I have to admit I couldn't put it down. George R.R. Martin kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me in a mindset of not being able to wait and see what happens next. There is romance, political intrigue, battles and a looming sense of dread. I would not classify it as an epic battle between good and evil because the reader is not always sure who is good and who is evil...perhaps, like life, the propensity for both is in everyone. If you like fantasy novels with Kings, Kingdoms, and uncertainty you will find this entertaining.
This is not a happy-go-lucky, feel-good novel. As matter of fact it made me depressed at times. But at the same time it is not predictable and that is what makes it a great read. Martin does his best work in setting the mood of dread right from the beginning and even escalates it throughout the book...winter is coming!
The downfall of the book is that it really doesn't end. It seems to stop in mid-story and invites the reader to seek after the next book in the series.
I've started watching the HBO series and I am disappointed. It follows the basic story line, but inexplicably adds sexual plot lines and gratuitous nudity where it wasn't found in the book. I'm not saying the book is PG-13, but HBO seems to take an R book and tries to make an X out of it for no reason.
Since starting the book I wonder how many people live with a sense of dread in their life...I wonder how many have no hope. I think that would be a terrible way to live. If my atheist friends are right at least I've gone through life happy and with a sense of hope.
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