George R.R. Martin began writing short fiction and novels in the 1970’s. He branched out in the 1980’s, serving as editor for the Wild Cards shared-world anthologies and working as a television producer. In 1996, he published A Game of Thrones, the first book in his acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire. He has since published three more books (A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows) of a planned seven. The commercial success and critical acclaim of the series has made Martin one of fantasy’s best-known authors.
The story of A Song of Ice and Fire focuses on the medieval land of Westeros. Once it was a land of many warring realms, until Aegon the Conqueror invaded with his army- and his three dragons, the last in the known world. He subdued the continent, and for centuries Aegon’s descendents, the House of Targaryen, ruled Westeros. Westeros is a vast and diverse land, divided into seven realms. At its northernmost extent lies the Wall, a colossal structure built millennia ago to keep out the legendary Others, malevolent beings said to reside in the freezing North.
Fifteen years before the story begins, their reign came to an end when King Aerys II, better known as Aerys the Mad, was overthrown by a rebellion led by Robert Baratheon, who crowned himself Robert I. He is not the man he once was, and has grown unhealthy and ineffectual from a reign devoted to indulgence and extravagance. His treasury is empty, plots and treachery assail him within his own court, and his status as a usurper leaves the legitimacy of his reign and dynasty uncertain. When his chief advisor dies, he calls upon his friend Lord Eddard Stark to replace him at the capital. Stark is a man of great ability and unusual integrity, but the rot may be too deep for anyone to fix, and there may be nothing anyone can do to keep Westeros united and at peace. Meanwhile, across the sea, the last survivors of House Targaryen, Viserys and his younger sister Daenerys, plot to regain their family’s throne. And in the North, beyond the Wall, the Others are starting to stir.
From this beginning, Martin creates a vast saga of war and intrigue spanning Westeros and lands beyond. A huge cast of characters struggle for power, or their beliefs, or sheer survival. The story is full of twists that stun the reader but seem natural in retrospect, each character following their own nature
Martin creates a memorable cast of characters whose destinies play out through the series: Eddard Stark, an honorable man in a world where honor has little meaning. Tywin Lannister, lord of House Lannister, a brilliant statesman completely devoid of any humane sentiment. Tyrion Lannister, Tywin’s despised dwarf (actual medical dwarfism, not the J.R.R. Tolkien kind) son, whose brilliance is obscured by his outcast status. Cersei, his sister, wife of King Robert, utterly devoted to her three children and utterly ruthless to anyone else. The sadistic, sociopathic knight Gregor Clegane, called The Mountain That Rides for his monstrous stature, and his brother, the brutal but tormented Sandor. Petyr Baelish, a very minor noble whose ambition and amorality carry him to greater things. Lord Varys, a eunuch and the kingdom’s cunning spymaster. Stannis Baratheon, brother of Robert, a rigid and humorless man falling under the sway of a mysterious priestess from across the sea. And many, many more.
Martin has extensive knowledge of history that he takes advantage of, giving the feudal world he creates a greater sense of reality than most fantasy. He fills in Westeros in intricate and fascinating detail, with all its history, noble houses, religions, and cultures. Martin does not shrink from portraying the grimness of life in a medieval world. Life in Westeros is harsh, its common people poor, its rulers often brutal, its culture rigidly patriarchal. Seeing how characters survive or rise above this environment- or fail to- is one of the story’s great sources of drama.
Martin’s fantasy handles the supernatural in an interesting way. The last of House Targaryen’s dragons died over a century ago, and most scholars believe magic no longer exists. Sorcery in Martin’s world is a rare, subtle, and often disturbing or even horrifying thing. Martin is very effective in making the fantasy elements of the story truly seem fantastical and uncanny.
I would highly recommend Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire to anyone who enjoys fantasy, stories of war and political intrigue, or even historical fiction, which Martin’s series often draw comparisons to. His status as one of the icons of modern fantasy is well deserved.
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