Book Review – George R. R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones”
Today I finished reading A Game of Thrones, the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire series written by George R. R. Martin.
This entire book correlates to season one of the HBO series A Game of Thrones.
First published back in 1996, A Game of Thrones is an epic story that takes place in a medieval and fantasy setting. Most of this story takes place on the continent WESTEROS in a land called the SEVEN KINGDOMS. Westeros is an island continent with a wide variety of terrain from mountains to forests to plains to marshlands and rivers. Seasons on Westeros can last for decades at a time. A Game of Thrones takes place near the ending of a summer period that has lasted for about ten years. The people are fearing that the upcoming winter will last even longer.
Near the northern tip of Westeros is the WALL, an ancient structure 700 feet tall and 300 miles long. The region north of the Wall is mostly uncharted. Rumors say that mystical beings live in the uncharted areas, though none of them have been sighted for thousands of years.
The Seven Kingdoms is actually divided into nine regions, with each region being controlled by a ruling family. The central seat of power is the Iron Throne in King’s Landing where the king himself rules over all.
A Game of Thrones tells a story told simultaneously from three locations: the Seven Kingdoms, the Wall, and Pentos, a region across the sea in part of the Free Cities. Each chapter is told through the eyes of one of the main characters.
THE SEVEN KINGDOMS:
In the northern realm of the Seven Kingdoms is where you’ll find the castle town of Winterfell and the Stark family. Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark rules his lands honestly and fairly. Assisting him are his wife Catelyn, their sons Robb (sixteen years old and heir to Winterfell), Brandon (seven years old, goes by Bran), and Rickon (three years old), and their daughters Sansa (eleven years old) and Arya (nine years old). Also part of the Stark family is Jon Snow, Ned’s fourteen-year-old bastard son. Most of the story focuses on the Stark family and their ordeals in the Seven Kingdom.
The story begins with Winterfell men locating a deserter from the Wall. When you go to the Wall and take an oath to become part of the Night’s Watch, it’s a job for life. The men serving there will never be allowed to marry or raise children. There is no going back home. You serve at the Wall until your death. Deserting the Wall and being captured later results in an execution. In this case the deserter is terrified after seeing something at the Wall, and it spooked him enough to risk his own death.
Ned goes to the captured Night Watch soldier and brings along Bran and Jon Snow to observe. Ned has to execute the man in accordance to the law. Unlike other lords, Ned feels that whomever gives the order for execution should carry out the task himself. Ned takes his sword and decapitates the soldier.
When returning to their castle home, the group encounters a group of wolf puppies. Specifically, these are direwolves, large wolves known for living north of the Wall. The puppies’ mother is dead, and it’s certain death for the puppies if they’re left alone. Bran sees how there are five puppies, one for himself and each of his siblings. It must be a sign since the direwolf is also the sigil of House Stark. Ned reluctantly agrees to allow his children to keep the puppies. Jon discovers a sixth puppy, an all-white puppy and the runt of the litter. He keeps it and names his puppy Ghost.
Back at their castle, a raven brings a dreadful letter. Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King (the king’s advisor and the second highest position of authority in the kingdom), has suddenly died. Lady Catelyn’s sister, Lysa, was married to Jon Arryn. The letter informs House Stark that King Robert Baratheon himself is on his way to Winterfell.
A little while later the king arrives along with his entourage. Joining him is his wife, Queen Cersi, their son, Prince Joffrey (twelve years old, heir to the throne), and the queen’s twin brother, Jamie Lannister. Joining them is the other Lannister brother, Tyrion Lannister, also known as the Imp. He’s a midget and seen as an outcast because of his physical abnormality. To make up for his physical differences, Tyrion is an avid reader and intellect, and he’s quick, and harsh, with his wits.
At Winterfell, King Robert talks to Lord Ned and heavily encourages him to take over the role of Hand of the King. Basically, Ned is one of the few people in the kingdom that Robert can actually trust. After all, Ned was there with Robert when King Aerys II (“the Mad King”) was finally slain in the rebellion and Robert claimed the throne for himself.
To help seal the deal and join House Stark with House Baratheon, Ned agrees to allow Prince Joffrey to marry his daughter Sansa once she comes of age. When she’s informed of the news, Sansa is overjoyed at the thought of marrying the prince and once day being queen of the kingdoms.
While the king is visiting, Lady Catelyn receives a latter from her sister, Lysa Arryn. Lysa writes in a secret language to inform her sister that Jon Arryn was really murdered. She believes that the next person to serve the position of Hand of the King may also be murdered as well as the king. Catelyn passes on this news to Ned, and he promises to investigate it at King’s Landing.
Bran Stark is an adventurer and climber. The young boy loves climbing trees along with the castle itself. Although he’s been warned by his mother to stop climbing, he still does so anyway. This inadvertently gets the boy into trouble when he climbs one of the castle’s towers and hears suspicious noise coming from one of the windows. Bran peeks into the window and sees Cersi and her brother Jamie having sex. Cersi looks up and spots the boy. Jamie pulls him into the room to talk to him before intentionally pushing him out of the window. The fall to the ground does not kill Bran, but he goes into a coma and his legs will never work again.
Lord Ned and Lady Catelyn stay by Bran’s bed, but there’s little that they can do. The healers claim that their son will survive, but it’s not known when he’ll finally wake. Lord Ned takes his daughters Sansa and Arya with him to King’s Landing along with King Robert, Queen Cersi, Prince Joffrey and Jamie Lannister. Lady Catelyn remains beside Bran’s bed, and Rob and Rickon remain at the castle.
Jon Snow knows that as a bastard there’s no future for him at either King’s Landing or there in Winterfell. He’ll never inherit any property or positions within the Stark family. Jon volunteers to become part of the Night’s Watch and serve at the Wall, knowing full well that it’s a position for life. He departs for the Wall with Ser Benjen Stark, Ned’s younger brother and member of the Night’s Watch. Tyrion Lannister also goes to the Wall, but it’s only to visit and see what the Wall is really like.
Not long after her husband and the king have departed for King’s Landing, Lady Catelyn is beside Bran’s bed when Robb visits. He spots a fire in one of the nearby buildings and runs to alert the guards and fight the fire. While Catelyn is alone with her son, an assassin enters the room. He draws a dagger and mentions to Catelyn about how she wasn’t supposed to be in the room, meaning that the injured child was supposed to be alone and an easy target. The assassin tries to attack her and Catelyn fights back, but her fingers are badly injured by the dagger’s blade. Just as the assassin is about to kill Bran, Bran’s direwolf (named Summer) runs into the room and takes down the assassin. Summer bites open the assassin’s neck, killing him and saving Bran and Lady Catelyn.
Lady Catelyn now knows that there was something sinister behind Bran’s fall from the tower. He must have witnessed something evil enough to require him being silenced permanently. Robb becomes Lord of Winterfell as his mother rushes to King’s Landing to inform Lord Ned about the assassin.
Meanwhile, the caravan heading back to King’s Landing stops for lunch. Prince Joffrey takes Sansa out for a walk by the river when they hear some strange sounds. They investigate and discover Arya having a playful sword fight with Mycha, the butcher’s boy. The two of them are using sticks and having a fun time. Joffrey demands Mycha to use his stick and fight him in a real sword fight, but the boy refuses. When Joffrey holds the tip of his sword against Mycha’s face and starts to cut him, Arya takes her stick and beats up Joffrey. He retaliates with his sword and threatens to kill the young girl. Arya’s direwolf races to her protection and bites Joffrey on the arm, causing him to drop his sword and beg for mercy. The wolf stops at Arya’s command. She then takes his sword and throws it into the river. Arya and Mycha both flee the scene.
A short while later, a hunting party discovers Arya. She’s taken before King Robert to answer for her actions by the river. Lord Ned learns of the news and reunites with his daughter in front of the king. Prince Joffrey insists that Arya and Mycha ganged up on him and attacked him with the wolf, but Arya claims that it’s not true. She insists that the prince is lying. Sansa is brought forth and made to testify, but she sides with Prince Joffrey and claims that she forgot what happened. This infuriates Arya and causes a feud between the sisters.
King Robert decides that children fight, and it’s as simple as that. He orders Lord Ned to discipline his daughter and he’ll do the same to his son. Case closed. But the queen isn’t satisfied. Queen Cersi insists that Arya’s direwolf needs to be killed. The only thing is that her wolf is nowhere to be found. Arya made her direwolf run away. Chained up outside is Sansa’s direwolf. Queen Cersi insists that that wolf will have to be killed. Lord Ned puts the burden of killing the animal on himself since it’s an animal from the north, part of his lands. He then goes outside and kills the direwolf.
After the king’s ruling, Lord Ned notices that Sandor Clegane (also known as “the Hound”) has returned to the camp with the body of a dead boy. He and his men rode out, found, and easily killed Mycha.
When the caravan arrives in King’s Landing, Lord Ned reluctantly becomes the Hand of the King and assumes his duties as such. He meets with King Robert’s closest advisors: Lord Varys, a eunuch who has spies throughout the city and seems to know everything about everybody; Grand Maester Pycelle, an elderly scholar; and Petyr Baelish (also known as “Littlefinger“), the Treasurer to the King. Petyr also lived in Riverrun with Catelyn when they were younger, and he challenged (and lost) a duel for her hand in marriage.
Shortly later Lady Catelyn arrives at King’s Landing after making a speedy transit via boat. She tries to be anonymous in the town, but she’s spotted by some of the guards and taken to a seedy whorehouse. In a room she reunites with Petyr Baelish, who then brings Lord Ned to meet with his wife. By this point they’ve received news that their son Bran is awake though he’ll never walk again. Catelyn tells Ned about the assassing, and she shows him the dagger. It’s a unique blade that actually belonged to Petyr, but he claims that he lost the dagger as a bet in the last tournament. The person who won his dagger was Tyrion Lannister, the Imp.
Why would the Lannisters want to murder Bran? Did they also have anything to do with the death of Jon Arryn?
Meanwhile, King Robert declares that there be a tournament held in honor of Lord Ned becoming the new Hand of the King. It doesn’t matter that the treasury itself is bankrupt and they’ll have to borrow an incredible amount of money to pay for the tournament as well as the prize money to the winners.
As the tournament is being prepared, Lady Catelyn heads back to Winterfell with the dagger and in search of Tyrion Lannister. Luck is on her side. As Catelyn is resting at an inn, in walks Tyrion himself. He had already spent time at the Wall and was on his way down to King’s Landing. Catelyn has the men take Tyrion prisoner, and she takes him to Eyrie where her sister Lady Lysa Arryn resides.
It’s a lengthy journey to Eyrie, and along the way Lady Catelyn’s small caravan is attacked several times by raiders. Catelyn is forced to free Tyrion from his bonds and allow him a weapon so he can help defend themselves. Tyrion does so and proves his ability in combat, knowing full well that he’s still a prisoner and probably facing an execution for his alleged crime in Winterfell.
Lysa rules as Lady of the Vale until her six-year-old son Robert is old enough to take over. She’s furious that Cateyln brought Tyrion to her castle, fearing the wrath of the Lannister family. Catelyn stands firm as Tyrion is her prisoner. After spending some time in a holding cell, Tyrion talks his way into standing trial for his actions. But it’s not an ordinary trial. This is a trial where two combatants fight to the death, each of them representing a side in the trial. Tyrion’s combatant wins the battle, and the Imp is allowed to go free.
Meanwhile, word has reached Lord Tywin Lannister of Tyrion’s kidnapping by Lady Catelyn, and he’s ready to wage war. He sends out Jamie Lannister in search of justice. Jamie finds Ned while in King’s Landing, and there’s a small battle as Ned’s guards are brutally killed. Lord Ned is also seriously injured when he falls from his horse and the large animal lands on top of his leg, crushing it.
Lord Ned continues researching what Jon Arryn was doing before he suddenly died. He learns that Jon was poisoned because he found disturbing information. After reading through some books and doing more research, Lord Ned learns the terrifying secret — Prince Joffrey is NOT King Robert’s son. It turns out that the Lannister family has a long tradition of incest in order to keep their blood lines as pure as possible. Jamie Lannister is really the true father of Prince Joffrey as well as Queen Cersi’s daughters. That’s also why Bran was almost murdered back in Winterfell.
King Robert has been out for a few days on a hunting trip. When he returns, everybody is shocked to see that the king is gravely injured. King Robert missed attacking a boar, and the animal viciously stabbed the king with his tusks. The boar was ultimately killed, but the king paid for it dearly. He’s lost a lot of blood by the time he returns to the castle, and everybody knows that he’ll be dead soon.
Ned meets with Queen Cersi in private and tells her that he knows the secret about Prince Joffrey. King Robert’s older brother, Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone, is the true heir to the throne. He offers her a chance to flee the kingdom and live with her son in exile, but Cersi refuses to so do. Unfortunately, Ned doesn’t have the heart to tell King Robert this news while he’s on his deathbed. When Ned visits the nearly dead king, King Robert has Ned write a note proclaiming that Ned is to essentially be the king until Prince Joffrey comes of age. The note is signed and witnessed.
Renly Baratheon, King Robert’s younger brother, also learns of the secret and wants Lord Ned to use their combined house guards to seize Queen Cersi and Prince Joffrey before they can take the throne. Ned refuses as such an act would be dishonorable. Renly takes his loyal guards and flees the city. Ned still fears that the Lannisters will try to seize the throne, so he writes and tries to send a note to Stannis Baratheon, informing him of the true situation.
By the next morning King Robert is dead. Lord Ned is somewhat suspicious the way that he’s taken before the Iron Throne instead of being treated like a king. Instead, Prince Joffrey takes the throne and becomes the next King of the Seven Kingdoms. His allegiance is quickly challenged by Queen Cersi. She produces the note that Ned wrote to Stannis Baratheon and claims that such writing is an act of treason. When Ned tries to seek Petyr Baelish’s help in arresting Cersi and Joffrey, he’s betrayed by the treasurer. The Lannister guards quickly attack Ned’s guards and kill them all. Ned, still suffering from his leg injury, is quickly captured and taken to a jail cell. Sansa is later captured and held captive in her bedroom. When the guards come for Arya, she manages to escape with the help of Syrio Forel, her sword fighting instructor.
News of the death of King Robert, the rise of King Joffrey, and the capture of Lord Ned quickly spreads across Westeros. A civil war erupts and the various lords “raise their banners” and assemble their knights and other forces. Lady Catelyn leaves Eyrie and heads back to Winterfell.
While this is happening, Lord Varys visits Lord Ned in his prison cell and convinces him to plead guilty to treason. He has reason with Queen Cersi and if Ned assumes his guilt, then King Joffrey will show mercy and spare his life, sentencing him to be stationed at the Wall as part of the Night’s Watch. Doing so will also protect Sansa from further harm. After all, it was Sansa who went before King Joffrey and begged him to spare the life of her father. Ned reluctantly agrees to plead guilty.
While Sansa has proclaimed her allegiance to King Joffrey and his mother, the former Queen Cersi, Arya Stark is on the run and hiding in the castle. She uses her fighting skills to stay alive while on the city streets. Arya desperately wants to escape and return home to Winterfell, but she needs to find money or some sort of free transportation to do so. Eventually she’s captured by Yoren of the Night’s Watch. Last we hear, Arya is being taken to the Wall along with Yoren’s new recruits from the dungeons of King’s Landing.
It’s a public spectacle as Lord Ned is taken before King Joffrey in front of the heavy crowds at King’s Landing. Ned speaks loudly and confesses his traitorous acts, and he proclaims that Joffrey is the true heir to the throne. Joffrey accepts Ned’s confession but still calls the man a traitor. For that he must die. Lord Ned is swiftly executed in front of the crowds. His head is later mounted on a spike as a warning to others who might try to betray the crown.
Lord Robb has assembled his army and prepares to ride south when his mother arrives back at Winterfest. She doesn’t like the idea of leaving Bran and Rickon at Winterfest, but a Stark needs to remain behind at the castle. Lady Catelyn rides along with Lord Robb and they decide how to handle Jamie Lannister’s powerful army. It’s decided that they’ll head to Riverrun and meet with Lord Hoster Tully, Catelyn’s maternal grandfather, and seek his assistance. It’s also at Riverrun where Jamie Lannister’s army is currently holding the castle under siege.
To get to Riverrun, first they’ll have to cross the river at House Frey. Lord Rickard Karstark is a tough negotiator as his stronghold has the only bridge within several days of riding up or down the river. In order to let Lord Robb’s army cross the bridge, Lady Catelyn arranges for Lord Robb to marry one of the Frey girls when he comes of age, thereby joining their homes and creating that bond. It’s a tough break but that’s what it takes to move his army quickly into position and gain the upper hand on the Lannisters.
After Lord Robb’s army had successfully crossed the river, Lord Tywin Lannister advances his army to fight and hopefully defeat and humiliate the boy leader. What Lord Tywin doesn’t know is that Robb splits his army after the cross the river. Robb rides with the cavalry and his mother to Riverrun, and Lord Roose Bolton leads the infantry to meet Lord Tywin. By this point in time Tyrion Lannister has re-joined his father and brought many of the raiders from the mountains around Eyrie. He has the men join his father’s army, and the one Lannister force has a battle with Lord Roose Bolton’s infantry. By the time both armies are committed to the battle, Lord Tywin realizes that he’s not fighting against Robb Stark. He’s been fooled by a decoy.
Lord Robb, Lady Catelyn and the cavalry race to Riverrun and launch an attack against Jaime Lannister’s army. They use Jaime’s lack of patience against him, and the Lannister men are trapped and ultimately defeated. It’s a costly battle as two of Lord Rickard Karstark’s sons are killed and Jaime came dangerously close to killing Robb Stark, but Jaime is ultimately defeated and captured.
When Lord Tywin hears the news of Jamie Lannister’s defeat and capture, he withdraws his army and falls back to Harrenhal castle. The lord figures that his son is as good as dead since King Joffrey executed Lord Ned Stark, who would have otherwise been a great negotiating device. This means that suddenly Tyrion, the outcast of the family, is now considered important to his father. Lord Tywin orders for Tyrion to go to King’s Landing and become the new Hand of the King. The young King Joffrey has been making too many mistakes with his decisions, and he wants Tyrion to basically put a leash on him.
Meanwhile, Lord Renly Baratheon of Storm’s End has decided to claim the Iron Throne for himself as he is one of the rightful heirs. It’s not known why Stennis Baratheon, the older brother, has not staked his claim at the crown, but Renly has decided that it rightfully belongs to himself. Renly has married Margaery Tyrell, the daughter of Lord Mace Tyrell, and joined his house with that of House Tyrell. The armies of Storm’s End and Highgarden are combined into a single force of 100,000, and that army begins marching towards King’s Landing to seize the throne.
In Riverrun, the situation is discussed for some time. The bannermen of House Stark and House Tully proclaim their allegiance to Robb Stark, and they declare him to be “The King in the North.” That title has not been used in over 300 years, back before the Seven Kingdoms became one unified realm.
THE WALL:
The Wall stands 700 feet tall and stretches for over 300 miles across the northern part of Westeros, shielding the rest of the continent from the dangers of the extreme north. The dangers on the opposite side of the Wall are relatively unknown as no real force has attacked it in a very long time. Rumors speak of a deadly race of mythological creatures known as the Others, but nobody has seen such a creature and lived to tell about it.
The people who stand guard at the Wall do so while serving under the Night’s Watch. When you take an oath to serve with the Night’s Watch, you do so for life. No man may leave the Wall at any point for the rest of his life. He therefore forgoes marriage, children, or owning or inheriting any property. The men dress in all black clothing, and they stand ready should trouble ever emerge from the north. While many of the Night’s Watch are volunteers, other members are criminals who serve the Wall instead of spending a lifetime in prison. Despite their various backgrounds, all men of the Night’s Watch become brothers once they take the vow.
When Jon Snow arrives at the Wall, he finds that it’s a cruel and bleak place. Jon also discovers that despite being a bastard in the land of criminals and other young men unworthy to live with the rest of society, he’s still an outcast. It turns out that Jon is so good with his sword that he easily defeats and humiliates his fellow trainees while they practice their combat skills. Jon learns this the hard way when the other guys gang up on him one day.
Instead of feeling angry towards the other trainees, Jon learns about their differences and seeks to earn their trust and friendship. He takes it upon himself to teach his fellow trainees in the art of sword combat, and he earns their trust and respect. This comes in handy when another trainee, Samwell Tarly, arrives. A chubby boy who is a coward and has no combat skills, Sam is an easy target for his classmates. They try to gang up and beat him, but Jon defends the new recruit. He quickly learns that although Sam has no place in combat, he’s still a very bright person with other useful skills.
The recruits all take the oath and become official members of the Night’s Watch. Jon Snow is disappointed when he learns that his new job will be steward to the Lord Commander of the Watch, Jeor Mormont. He wanted to be a Ranger like his uncle, Benjen Stark. His attitude towards being a steward changes when Sam points out that servicing the Lord Commander means being there when the Lord Commander needs to make decisions. That means that Jon Snow will be in a position to be trained to become the next Lord Commander of the Watch.
Not long after Benjen Stark arrived at the Wall with Jon Snow, Benjen took a small party of Rangers on a patrol north of the Wall. The party disappears and nobody sees or hears anything about Benjen Stark or the Rangers who rode with him. About six months later, the bodies of two of Benjen’s companions are located north of the Wall. The bodies are returned south of the Wall, but that night they re-animate and rise as wights. One of the wights tries to attack Jeor Mormont, but Jon Snow defeats it by using fire as other mortal instruments have no effect on the wights.
In reward for his bravery and saving the life of Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Watch presents Jon Snow with “Longclaw,” an heirloom sword composed of Valyrian-steel, the strongest metal in all the land. Lord Mormont has even replaced the sword’s decorative knob on the hilt of the sword with that of a direwolf, representing the Stark sigil as well as Ghost, Jon’s pet direwolf.
When word of Lord Ned Stark’s execution finally reaches the Wall, Jon Snow attempts to desert the Wall and join the Stark army to battle against the Lannisters. This move was easily predicted by his companions. Jon’s friends quickly ride after him, and not too far from the Wall they locate their friend. They convince Jon to return to the Wall, which he does so. After returning to the Wall, Jon has to report to Lord Mormont, who also notifies him that he was well aware of Jon’s actions.
Lord Mormont informs Jon that as a sworn member of the Night’s Watch, his duty is there at the Wall, not back at home. Besides, whomever commands the Iron Throne has nothing compared to the evil that is approaching with the next winter. Winter is coming . . .
FREE CITIES – PENTOS:
Situated across the Narrow Sea from Westeros is an known as the Free Cities. In Pentos is where we meet twenty-one-year-old Viserys Targaryen living in exile with Daenerys Targaryen, his thirteen-year-old sister. Joining them as an advisor is Ser Jorah Mormont (son of Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch at the Wall), an exiled knight from Westeros.
It turns out that Viserys is the last male heir of the Targaryen family. His father, King Aerys II, “the Mad King,” was overthrown in a rebellion by Robert Baratheon some fourteen years ago. Prior to that the Targaryen family ruled Westeros as dragon-lords for 290 years, but their power and dragons are both gone.
Viserys Targaryen considers himself part dragon and claims that he has the blood of the dragon running inside of him. Whenever people make him angry, he warns about them unleashing the power of the dragon upon them. Ever since his father was killed and him and his mother (who died while giving birth to Daenerys), Viserys has grown more and more hatred to those who fought and betrayed his family back in Westeros. He vows to one day lead an army, get his revenge, and claim the Iron Throne for himself.
An important step towards Viserys’s path of revenge takes place when he arranges the marriage of his sister to Khal Drogo, the warlord of the deadly Dothraki horse warriors. The gift of his sister is in exchange for using Khal Drogo’s army to reclaim the Iron Throne and rule the lands of Westeros. After the wedding ceremony, Daenerys is presented with a unique wedding present — three petrified dragon eggs.
Daenerys quickly respects her new husband and gains his love as well. She quickly becomes pregnant and she knows that her baby is going to be a boy and the future king of the Dothraki. A prophecy claims that her unborn child will be the one who leads the army to conquer the entire world. At one point in her pregnancy, Daenerys is forced to eat the heart of a stallion to give her unborn baby strength.
Time passes slowly, and with each passing day Viserys becomes more and more angered with Khal Drogo not handing over command of his army. At first Viserys takes out his rage against his sister, verbally and physically abusing her in private. When he tries to beat his pregnant wife in front of Khal Drogo and the Dothraki, Viserys makes a fatal error. Khal finally follows through with his obligation and tells Viserys that he’ll wear a crown of gold. Khal then melts gold until it becomes molten, and then he pours that incredibly hot fluid on top of Viserys’s head. The “golden crown” kills Viserys, ending his conquest for it once and for all.
In King’s Landing, King Robert meets with his advisors when he learns about Daenerys marrying Khal Drogo. He too believes the prophecy of her future child returning to Westeros with a conquering army. King Robert had led a rebellion to remove the Targaryen family from power, and he’s not about to see any of them return, even if it’s still fifteen or twenty years from now. King Robert wants both Viserys and his pregnant sister killed as soon as possible.
It’s decided that it would be best if a lone assassin were to carry out the task of murdering Daenerys. Unfortunately, the assassin fails and it only enrages Drogo and causes him to seek revenge against Westeros.
In order to invade Westeros, Khal Drogo’s army needs to acquire supplies and funds. They gain them by sacking villages and town and plundering everything they need. During one such raid Drogo is wounded. At first the injury doesn’t seem to be that bad, but when Daenerys sees her husband’s wound, she knows that they’ll need specialized help. That help arrives in the form of Mirri Maz Duur, a maegi who was recently captured in a raid. The maegi uses her magic and herbal skills to try to heal Drogo, but he doesn’t follow her instructions and his wound only grows worse.
After a few days Khal Drogo is near death and once again Mirri Maz Duur has to answer to Daenerys to save the life of her husband. He’s nearly dead and the only way to save him is to use forbidden magic, a spell so powerful that it’ll require sacrificing a life to save one. Daenerys insists on the maegi to do the spell, so she does so. While the maegi is casting the spell, Daenerys suddenly goes into labor and has to deliver her baby. She collapses and loses consciousness as people are rushing to her side.
When Daenerys awakens she learns that her newborn son is dead. Apparently he was a stillborn child. Her husband, Khal Drogo, is alive, but he’s in a persistent vegetative state. He’ll never ride a horse, feed himself or even talk. When the Dothraki learned of Khal Drogo’s state, the vast majority of the horse warriors fled in search of a new leader. Daenerys blames this on the maegi as she supposedly didn’t tell her the full extent of the magic spell that she believed was supposed to bring her husband back to life completely. Knowing that Khal Drogo is better off dead, Daenerys uses a pillow to smother his face and suffocate him.
Eager for revenge, Daenerys orders that Mirri Maz Duur be tied to Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre. She also places the three petrified dragon eggs on the pyre before it’s set ablaze. While the funeral pyre is burning brightly, Daenerys decides to walk forward into the blaze of fire. Her clothes burn off her body, but the fire does not touch or harm the young woman. The burning structure finally collapses and Daenerys is trapped with the wreckage until the fires stop burning.
When the fires are extinguished, Daenerys is discovered to be alive and without any burns. Cuddled around her body and nursing from her breasts are three baby dragons. It’s believed that the triple-sacrifice of her stillborn baby, her recently deceased husband, and the maegi have allowed the petrified dragon eggs to come alive and hatch. Ser Jorah Mormont and the last few Dothraki warriors immediately swear their allegiance to Daenerys, The Mother of Dragons.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So is George R. R. Martin’s book, A Game of Thrones, any good?
Absolutely!
As you can tell by the length of this review, A Game of Thrones is a richly detailed and quite intricate book that tells a fantastic tale of treachery, deceit, and battles in a medieval-like setting. Lasting just over 800 pages in the paperback edition, this book is an endurance run that’ll keep you turning the pages, anxious to learn more of the story.
I’ll admit that until this point, I’ve never been a fan of reading medieval books or watching those types of films or television shows. Maybe that’s because I’ve had a hard time understanding old English terminology and their style of speaking. Fortunately, that’s not a concern at all for A Game of Thrones. This book was written by an American author and the old English words and terminology are kept to a minimum. It’s rather easy to follow the action once you remember who is who in an incredible cast of characters. Yes, there were a few times that I had to go back and re-read some segments because I forgot some of the details.
It’s somewhat intimidating to start reading such a long book, but that fear quickly deteriorates as you’re quickly swept into the action and story in A Game of Thrones. It was hard to stop reading and to put down the book so that I could accomplish other work during these past eleven days. Hell, this book review is almost two days in the making as there are just so many details and events that take place in this incredibly fascinating story.
It’s clear that George R. R. Martin has researched his history and used his talents to bring together a somewhat massive but equally entertaining medieval-type of story. It’s quite bloody at times, there are some interesting twists and turns, and the elements of magic and the supernatural are lurking in the shadows. I can’t wait to continue the story soon in the next book, A Clash of Kings!
If you love medieval stories, the fantasy, and quite a bit of action and adventure, then start reading George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones immediately! You will not be disappointed!
