A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (CBR-V #20)

Cannonball Read V: Book #20/52
Published: 1996
Pages: 864
Genre: Fantasy

I was really far ahead in my books for this year, so I decided to finally tackle A Game of Thrones since I wouldn't feel so rushed to finish such a monster novel.  I'm one of those people who actually loves super long books - Stephen King's The Stand is a favorite and I'm one of the few people on earth who actually loved Under the Dome (both are over 1000 pages). My favorite book ever is House of Leaves, which is over 700 pages. I love getting to know characters that intimately - the way only a book that long can do.

So, back to A Game of Thrones. I've never seen the TV show, so I went into it completely blind as to characters, plotlines, etc. I think most people know the general plot by now due to the popularity of the TV show, but here is a condensed version: It's a fantasy novel that takes place in a land that has summers and winters that can last for years. There is a lot of incest and sex and blood. There are also approximately 400 people's names you have to learn.

I wanted to like this book so much. It's got some really great parts and some amazing characters (I found myself wishing there were more Daenerys and Arya in the book). However, there were SO MANY characters and plot lines that it was really hard to get sucked into the story. As soon as I'd start getting interested in someone, we'd switch to a new character and hundreds of pages would pass before we might come back to the other one. By then, I didn't really care anymore. 

I think if this book was condensed to just a few characters, I would love it. I still might try and read the next book in the series just to see how a few of my favorite characters turn out. It isn't a bad book by any means - it's just OVERWHELMING at times. I felt like I needed to make charts and notes while reading just to figure everything out.