A Game of Thrones
by George R. R. Martin
New York : Bantam Books, 2011, c1996.
835 p. : maps ; 18 cm.

Writing about A Game of Thrones in the London Review of Books, John Lanchester comments that there are many avid readers who will read just about anything, but will absolutely not read fantasy and science fiction.  That is almost an accurate description of me, except I will read a fantasy and sci fi that has become extremely popular, or is recommended to me by students.  A Game of Thrones definitely fits that description, and I'm glad I read it.

A Game of Thrones represents complex, unpredictable storytelling at it's best.  A character being a main character is no guarantee that he or she will still be alive at the end of the novel - and there is so much treachery, clandestine plotting, and violent conflict - that the plot itself presents surprise after surprise.  Likewise the novel may be moving along in an extremely realistic fashion when suddenly a supernatural element appears so seamlessly that I it caused me to do a reader's double-take.

I think the thing that pleased me most about Martin's Game of Thrones was that it really is well written.  I found myself at times quiet taken by the skill of descriptive setting, or the nuanced personality of a character.  Though - like many fantasy worlds of fiction - it can get a bit complicated and the reader may find herself rechecking the maps at the front of the book and the appendices at the back - the book does not disappoint.

This is not a book that a librarian needs to recommend - though written in the 1990s, the book (and series) has become something of a publishing phenomena due to the wildly successful HBO series which it inspired.  The book also has mature content, containing scenes of violence and sexuality.