Keep in mind that this is only a review of the PREQUEL in the first Game of Thrones book. I myself haven't read any further, or have watched even one episode of the tv show (even though that needs some desperate light shed upon it). This is MY Game of Thrones review, and based on what I've read so far, I wouldn't be willing to go any further.
Living in a futuristic society where you can learn about new things at the drop of a hat has its ups and downs. I’ve been plugged into the system ever since Game of Thrones made it’s tv debut, and I’ve since have seen many opinions on the show/books that have influenced my own. Popular ideas have mixed and sullied with mine; I can’t read this work with a pure mind like I would most other pieces. Judgements have already been in set in motion before I picked up the first chapter.
However, I can have first thoughts; It’s easy to see how this writing could extend over 6-7 huge books, and the story span 6 seasons on television. It’s extremely methodical, slow with a destination in mind. This is where my interest falls apart. Having such a detailed, and intensely complex story feels like it could easily boil down to practically nothing if you include the fact that it’s seen by everybody as (for lack of a better term) murder porn. Why get involved in these beautiful characterizations and story if you know that most everyone, beloved or not, is going to die? Even in the prologue, someone was brutally executed after 10 pages of build-up. The reader gets distracted easily if they don’t know what the fuck is happening. It’s good to start off with monsters, yes, but monsters and lore for no apparent reason-who’s side you’re supposed to be on, what is “the wall”, who are these people, small things like that- leaves the reader confused and unwilling to read deeper. If I’m two pages in and I already need a map to see where people are from and where they’re going, chances are that this is going to be full of fantasy politics. Add the length of the novels onto the pile and you’ve got yourself a bonfire of boredom.
The introduction was definitely suspenseful, but it was somewhat of an unidentified suspense. Like the beginning of a horror movie, and not a good one. The type that eventually around the middle you start rooting for the killer just because you want to see these blaise and uninteresting people dead. A monty-python-esque moment of, “Get on with it!” It’s fantastic for the people who have the time and attention span to read the whole seven book collection.
