A Game of Thrones

[GravyFingerz]

I just finished this very awesome and very hard-core novel by George R. R. Martin. I've read Tolkein, Robert Jordan, some Moorcock, some Fritz Leiber, some Robert Howard, some Card, etc. I gotta say, Martin's A Game of Throne is the best fantasy novel I've read, and heart wrenching for me. By the end of the book, I was very angry. It's been a long while since I've been so moved by a novel, but I gotta say, I really cared for some of Martin's characters, and hated others.

It seems like this book would lend alot towards helping DMs with intrigue, politics, and whatnot in their D&D game. While the presence of magic changes the rules most certainly, some things don't change, such as scheming nobels, turncoats, betrayers, and bloody coups. Martin handles intrigue well, and even when I knew the eventual result of events by the end of the book, I was still shocked by certain events. Shocked and appalled. Needley to say, I hate Joffrey with a passion.

All in all a good book and definite recommended read.

 

[Nightfall]

Uhm I think you're posting on the wrong part of the board.

But yes, A Game of Thrones is a great book and it's part of a great series.

 

[Alzrius]

This belongs over in the Media Lounge. The moderators will probably move it there once they see this thread.

 

[Stalker0]

And there is a Game of Thrones RPG out there.

 

[Agamon]

Just finished A Game of Thrones, myself. I was very impressed and will be moving onto A Clash of Kings once I'm caught up on some other light reading. I was pretty shocked by the ending as well, not at all how I imagined it would turn out. My favorite characters thus far would be Tyrion and Arya, the two black sheep of their respective families.

The RPG book by GoO is top notch, too. I'd like to run a game of it someday, probably a PbP (IMO, the best format for playing a political intrigue game).

 

[Aus_Snow]

I'll just chime in with agreement on the book, and the RPG.

Here is the webpage for the d20 and the dual-system releases of the Game of Thrones RPG.

The rest of the series (so far) is very good as well, in my opinion. I'm certainly looking forward to the next.

 

[Balgus]

I second and third it. Song of Ice and Fire is the best series I have read to date.

Not to give away anything, but I love it how Martin uses his characters as a TOOL to tell a story, and not the story to tell about the characters. And he adds and takes characters on a whim. And that is why the story is so great.

And if you loved book 1, then you will thoroughly enjoy books 2 and 3. Book 4 progresses the story womehwat, but not as powerfullyt as 1-3. I cant wait for the 5th book- which is due anytime now... end of this year perhaps?

BTW, HERE is his webpage for any and all info that is Martin. You will notice that there are a lot of banners of houses not mentioned in the books thus far, so he is not done introducing new characters.

OOOhhh the suspense is killing me.

 

[morbiczer]

Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no way that the next volume will come out this year.

A Feast for Crows came out in November 2005 and was announced sometime in the spring of 2005. So if it would come out this year, the writing should be finished by now (it takes a lot time to edit, etc. these things). And we know from his homepage that he si far from finished. I'd say that we are lucky if the next book comes out next year (2007).

And yes, A Song of Ice and Fire is the best! Besides the RPG there is also a really good board game and a super CCG from Fanatsy Flight Games. Worth chaecking out if you like like these sorts of games.

 

[Odhanan]

A Game of Thrones (AGOT for short) indeed is an excellent novel. I find A Song of Ice and Fire (the actual series including AGOT as its first volume) to be a bit "long to come" so to speak. That is, there are some passages that could be skipped. For me, it's true for the Lord of the Rings too, though (and I am a huge fan of LotR, believe me).

I find the writing of AGOT to be far superior to "usual" fantasy novels (like say... D&D novels). AGOT uses the kind of writing I want to see in fantasy novels. Like LotR, like Leiber or Howard, you feel the difference in style, heck, there is a style of writing.

For the record, I finished A Clash of Kings and just started A Storm of Swords - I'm eager to know where the story goes from there.

 

[Dav]

Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no way that the next volume will come out this year.

A Feast for Crows came out in November 2005 and was announced sometime in the spring of 2005. So if it would come out this year, the writing should be finished by now (it takes a lot time to edit, etc. these things). And we know from his homepage that he si far from finished. I'd say that we are lucky if the next book comes out next year (2007).

Actually, it's very likely A Dance with Dragons (the fifth novel) will be released January/February 2007.

A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons were pretty much written contemporaneously. Book 5 was originally going to come out November '06, but it got pushed back a couple months. He's mostly done with it, and the timeframe it takes is pretty much the same as AFfC but with the other characters he didn't talk about (i.e. Tyrion and Dany don't show up in AFfC but will in ADwD).