This is just book one of A Song of Ice and
Fire; the existence of another six tomes for me was a disincentive to ‘get into’
GoT that finally I have overcome.
First up, the maps at the front set the
scene and demand a few minutes perusal, forming as they do the board upon which
the game will be played. Next the Prologue sets the tone: dark, foreboding,
violent. It’s clearly fantasy-land but we are in familiar territory: swords and
shields; horses and wolves; mainly just men and women.
Dynastic rule, bonds of fealty and chivalric
knights (but Sers not Sirs) are the order of the day. But the rule of Robert
Baratheon, in place a dozen years since the violent ousting of ‘Mad’ King Aerys
II of the House of Targaryen, is beginning to look under pressure.
His right-hand man, Jon Arryn, has died in
his bed but under suspicious circumstances; the King’s in-laws of House
Lannister are untrustworthy and probably plotting something; an infant survivor
of the purge of the Targaryens is overseas planning revenge; and in the north,
beyond the fortified ice-wall, ancient forces are stirring.
Responsibility for guarding the northern
frontier lies with the House of Stark, and it is the members of that family
that mainly drive the narrative forward, each chapter recounting events through
the eyes of one or other of them: Lord Eddard; Lady Catelyn; children Robb,
Sansa, Arya and Bran; and bastard son Jon Snow. Two other viewpoints provide
balance: Tyrion, unfavoured dwarfish son of Lord Lannister; and Daenerys, the
exiled Princess and true heir of the Targaryen dynasty.
It is undeniably engrossing stuff as the
action ricochets between the protagonists, spread over not just the Seven
Kingdoms but also beyond the ice wall in the north and across the sea in the
grasslands of the nomadic Dothraki warriors. The prose is rich but punchy
rather than purple. Although invented terms abound, they are cleverly
suggestive of their meaning and used in context so do not jar and no glossary
is needed.
Closing in on page 800 it is clear not all
issues will be resolved. But despite the fact that six more books loom ahead GRR
Martin does not prevaricate, springing deaths and dismemberment on the reader
before ending this volume not, thankfully, on a cliff edge but satisfyingly
paused for the next instalment.
The jury is out on whether to resume reading
or resort to the box set.
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