Before I get into the summary of this book and my impressions, let me just say, it is hard. This is a very difficult book to read, and it contains a lot of imagery that is not for the feint of heart. So if you are a young adult or below, you have been warned.

            The prologue of this book takes us into a world that we pretty much wont see again, at least not as much as we would like to. It shows us a sort of super zombie apparition that is seemingly unstoppable. This is misleading because after having read the entire book, I believe the super zombie is only seen once again, when I wanted it to be the main point of the story.

            If you are considering reading this book, I just want to point out that you shouldn’t expect a standard fantasy here. Magic is only mentioned vaguely and it isn’t as epic as most fantasies. Magical creatures exist, but they are downplayed and rarely seen. And the bad guys are noticeably bad, but there are many times where you will have no idea whether or not to hate the person you are reading through.

            What A Game of Thrones really is, is a very complex and difficult to understand… game of thrones. It is difficult to explain, but I will give it a shot anyway.

            Each chapter of this story is told through the eyes of a different character. For example one chapter would be titled “Bran” but that isn’t the subject matter, it is who the chapter will be told through. This can become confusing at first because you want to cling to one character, but after a while you get used to it.

            But basically what this “game of thrones” is all about is a kingdom called King’s Landing. This is a place where King Robert has ruled for a long while, but in his older age he has let himself go and is having trouble running the city. So he calls upon Lord Eddard Stark, King of Winterfell to be his right hand.

            Now, the Starks are pretty much the main characters, you will see the story most often through their eyes. That includes Eddard’s wife, two daughters and three sons, one of which is a bastard child. I mention that because the fact that Jon is a bastard plays heavily into future events.

            Anyway, nearly half way into the book, every character goes their separate ways. Eddard and his daughters go to Kings Landing to aid Lord Robert, while his wife Catelyn and two of his sons remain back in Winterfell to keep things under control. Jon, however ends up going to what they call “the wall” which is a massive stone structure separating the land from evil forces unknown. This is the place where we again see the super zombie, but like I said; don’t expect it to be a huge part of the over all story. It is mainly Jon who will deal with these events.

            The other events consist of seedy political struggles, betrayals, and a lot of bloodshed. So this is where it can be a very difficult read. If you aren’t into that sort of thing, then this book might not be for you.

            However, I myself am not into that sort of thing, and yet I loved this book. It was very difficult to get into at first, but once I got a general idea of which character was to be liked and which to be hated, I couldn’t put the book down.

            George R. R. Martin has really done an amazing job here, I can’t even begin to imagine how he could write such complex and interwoven stories, but he does and the fruits of his labors are evident in every page.

            But like I said, this is not an easy read, and it requires a certain amount of commitment before you can truly enjoy it, but if you give it that commitment, then you will be very pleased with the results.

            In my general scoring areas, this book should technically get a four out of five because I judge how enthralled I get. If I am glued to the page most of the time the book will likely get a five. There were many points in this book where I was just confused and my mind began to drift, which is something that will likely lower the score. However, much of this mind drifting occurred during the beginning portion of the book. Once I knew the world and characters better I was glued to the page. I also can’t say enough about George R. R. Martin’s writing skills. It doesn’t even seem like this complexity is possible for a human, and yet here it is. This is certainly not an author I would ever try to live up to because it seems impossible to reach something so deep and complex. My mind just isn’t that devoted.

            So for those reasons and more this book earns every bit of the score it is given. Recommended to hardcore fantasy fans who want something different.