As it is high fantasy, I thought I’m going to be greeted with an avalanche of information and unpronounceable names and whole pages of genealogical charts infused with the text, but none of my fears came true.
In fact, the chapters are short and enjoyable. There is always something happening in them, and there is way less ‘purple prose’ and imagery description than I anticipated. It’s actually very fun to read, especially, because each chapter jumps to another character’s point of view (similarly presented in the tv-series as well), aiding in creating a smooth reader experience. So when there is ancestor-talk and history class I could actually enjoy it as the chapters are digestible and again, fun to read. 

This will be pretty much the main pattern of my review, that this book, despite its humongous size, brought me so much joy while I was going through it. Just like when I’ve read Lord of the Rings* when I was small or the His Dark Materials* series. It sounds so simple, “just make something fun” to read, but so many books just don’t do it for me. Especially the newer ones for some reason. 

What Makes GOT Epic?

• WORLD-BUILDING

If I could point out a few things that I liked the most about Game of Thrones apart from the short and variety of chapters, that would be world-building and the characters. I was always mind-blown by authors who could build actual functional worlds with rich history  based simply on their imagination. What’s more, infusing it with mythical or magical elements that are actually logical is just pier-tier maester author level for me. I love it. I think maybe the one thing I love more than this is authors who could write in a way that I can forget that there are actual people using their craft behind the words that I’m reading and not just mental projections of the characters. Something very similar to actors and actresses when they are just so good at playing their characters that the real person disappears. You simply tend to forget that what you are reading is clever fabrication of the mind, and I like that. I like to be led by my nose in art.

• COMPLEX CHARACTERS

And the characters are so much fun to read and their perspective. They are complex and varying which is mirrored in the writing style as well. Can’t wait to see the character arcs and their evolvement over the further volumes. If you would ask me who is my favourite character that I love to read, (which might be quite different as to who is my actual favourite character), it would be definitely Tyrion Lannister, Eddard and Bran Stark. In no particular order and at the end of the day I had no one that I felt like I wanted to skip or skim read. I heard that down the line of the Song of Ice and Fire there will be books that are not this easy to read. (?!) I guess I have to see it for myself, but for now I’m more than happy with my experience. 

What Am I Reading Next?

For now, I’m planning to read one ‘non-series’ and one other ‘series-book’ between each of the Song of Ice and Fire books just to prolong it a little. I wish I could say that I wish to read it like this because I hope that Winds of Winter will come out by the time I finish reading all of the others. Including Fire and Blood*, but that would be a bit naïve of me. I do think he will finish it and he is probably more than aware of the immense pressure that readers put on his shoulders, but I hope he knows it’s because the books are something that readers exceptionally enjoy. It’s definitely a positive thing at the end of the day. I also hope that the joy of writing didn’t disappear for him because of this or worse doesn’t block him in writing. The series is fun to read because the readers can tell that the world he created is very precious to him. At least, that’s what I think, I could be wrong though. So as long as he is happy to turn back to Westeros and ask the characters how they are doing, I’m sure we, as readers, will be fine. Until then, I continue on my journey and start to read A Clash of Kings* after I have finished my current reads.

Before You Go Check This Out!

At the bottom of the page you can find all the mentioned books in this review (and some extra fantasy recommendations) as a curated Bookshop.org list* do check them out if you are interested!

I also have many others that might peak your interests including: September’s Current Reads* and 10 Unnerving Books for October*. 

The next book review will be about Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking For is in The Library*, translated by Alison Watts. A beautifully written Japanese slife-of-life lit novel.