B

George R. R. Martin’s attention to detail and preferences for political intrigue dominate the intricately detailed and expansive world he has envisioned. With a plethora of richly historied characters and locations, the Seven Kingdoms provide a very realistic setting for a plot teeming with treason, murder, and political mayhem.

Like I said, Martin’s work is very detailed and very believable. The Seven Kingdoms are a land riddled with treachery and villains, but good and evil cannot be distinguished as the stark contrasts of black and white. Most character seem to be represented rather as shades of gray. This makes the story easy very realistic, but a little cold and impersonal.

I was originally attracted to this work after seeing rave reviews at Amazon.com, but it did not have the same impact on me as on the reviewers it seems. A Game of Thrones is a lengthy read, weighing in at about 800 pages and it feels it. There are so many characters (most with nicknames and titles) and locations, that it takes some time to get everything straight.

But that did not bother me so much. I think the reason that I didn’t enjoy Thrones that much, is that there is no hero figure. There is no one character that you can relate to, that grows and learns as the story progresses. For me, that is one of the greatest aspects of fantasy. The other problem was that the setting was too realistic. Unlike Middle Earth or Hogwarts, the Seven Kingdoms did not make an ideal escape from reality.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t recommend this novel to other people, just don’t fool yourself that you’ll be reading a fun and light story. This is a serious and adult story (yes, I mean sex, swearing, murder, etc.). If you are looking for heroes, wizards and magic, you better stick with Harry Potter, but if you like politics, history, and realism then you might consider Martin’s works.