Genre - Fantasy

Series - A Song of Ice and Fire

with the first being A Game of Thrones. The story is told

through the viewpoint of many different characters,

some having a large role in the events of the story,

others not. The novel follows the events during a war

that has broken out between many factions in the country

of Westeros and the surrounding lands following the king

of Westeros's death in the first novel. This novel follows

mainly a man named Tyrion Lannister referred to as

"The Imp" or "The Half-Man" due to him being a little person.

Additionally, the book follows Tyrion's sister, Cersei, the

Queen Regent, as well as a man named Jon Snow, and a 

woman named Daenerys Targaryen.

the Wall, a large, aptly named structure

that separates Westoros from the land

beyond the borders. Jon has the duty to

watch and lead the guarding of the

Westorosi borders from any beasts or

residents from what is north of the Wall,

who are called wildlings. Jon is tested

quite often with challenges of his 

leadership abilities as thousands of

wildlings now live under his rule due to

them ending up south of the Wall

following a failed siege attempt on the

forts built up separating the two lands.

This causes many issues. Firstly, there are

not enough resources or food to take care

of everyone now living at the Wall.

Secondly, many of the original inhabitants

of the Wall are opposed to wildlings living

on the Wall in general. At the end of the

novel, Jon is stabbed in the abdomen

many times by his followers.

as Queen Regent until her son Tommen comes of 

age. At the start of the novel, Cersei is held prisoner 

by the head of the most prominent church of 

Westoros, The Faith of the Seven. Cersei is being held 

prisoner due to her being suspected for the crimes 

of adultery, high treason, incest, regicide, and 

deicide, the murder of a god. Despite these 

accusations being true, Cersei only admits to the 

charges of adultery.  After spending much time held 

captive, Cersei is forced to perform a penance walk, 

in which her family, led by her uncle, abandon her 

side. For the penance walk, she is stripped and 

shaved, then led around Kings Landing, the capitol 

city of Westoros, in which she resides.

Cersei Lannister, currently Queen Regent of

Westoros. He is living in exile after fleeing

the country to the lands in the east, due to

being suspected of murdering his nephew

and father, of which only the latter is true.

Tyrion finds a man who is friends with the

man who helped Tyrion flee. This man finds

Tyrion boarding a boat called The Shy

Maid, in which Tyrion accompanies a young

man claiming to be Aegon VI Targaryen,

previously thought to have been dead for

numerous years. Aegon would be ahead

of Daenerys in the line of succesion, should

the Targaryen dynasty be in power once

more. Tyrion prompts Aegon to set sail west

for Westoros rather than his current plan to

go further east in search of Daenerys to wed

her. Tyrion surmises that Daenerys already

has an army far greater than Aegon, as well

as far more power. Following this, Tyrion is

abruptly taken captive and sold into slavery

after a night of drinking along with another

little person named Penny. The pair of them 

perform as slaves for show until their master

and owner falls very sick and eventually dies.

Tyrion, Penny, and another fellow slave

named Ser Jorah Mormont, who is also in

exile from Westoros, take advantage of the

situation and escape. The three of them, led

by Tyrion, join a sellsword company called

the Second Sons by him negotiating to give

the wealth of Tyrion's home, in which he

legally owns, to the company.

remaining kin to the king of the dynasty

of the Targaryens, which was overthrown

prior to the events of the first book. She

lives in exile far to the east of the kingdom

of Westoros, which she believes she has

the birthright to rule due to her father being

the last king of his dynasty. She currently

rule the city of Mereen, taking control of it

after killing the previous leaders due to

them supporting their economy off of slave

trade. Daenerys proves to be a poor leader

as she begins to lose control of the city and

marrying politically, but giving up nearly all

control of the city to her husband.

Additionally, she refuses to abandon Mereen

to return to Westoros, which angers some of

her supporters.

in a series, I knew mostly what style to

expect. The novel has a complicated story,

with numerous different plot lines and

conflicts, although all are important. I

thoroughly enjoyed the style of the writing,

in which the story is told from the point of

view of many different characters, some

having crucial roles to play in one or more

of the novel's main conflicts, others not. I

also loved the level of detail in everything

throughout the story. On the other hand,

though, the numerous vital plots, incredible

number of main characters, some of which

are not listed not listed here, and the size

and detail of the world of Westoros and the

surrounding lands can make the story,

characters, and map difficult to keep track of.

Despite this, the level of detail and careful

storytelling and plot developments done by

the author allowed for an unparalleled level

of immersion. Further, George R R Martin has

shown a lack of fear in killing main characters

if it makes logical sense, while making sure

not to kill important people strictly for shock

value. Additionally, Martin does an amazing

job blurring the lines between black and

white, or good and evil in the characters.

On a whole, the book is masterfully written,

just as the rest of the series is, maintaining

realistic and human characters, dialogue, and

a detailed world beyond any other I can

remember reading in recent times.