A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I'd heard quite a bit about the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin before I actually steeled myself to read it, and what I'd heard justified the use of the word 'steeled'. 'Wonderful story!' they said 'epic and complex, with such real characters! But very dark, lots of violence and sex, very gritty!' (I like that word, gritty, for these novels--think Frank Miller does fantasy)

Overview
Surprisingly enough, they were right. I went into the book expecting to dislike it, because it was obviously setting itself up as Lord of the Rings all grown up. (Seriously, look at the author's name! Even if your middle initials are actually 'R.R.', it still screams "I'm just like Tolkien, see my epic fantasy skillz!") And any story that employs graphic sex and violence to get its point across must be lacking in basic narrative, right? But to my mild surprise, it didn't take long to get so deeply wrapped up in the story that I didn't mind the dark bits. Actually, my expectations of darkness and death led to a couple of nice surprises when characters survived after I'd written them off as dead.

Anyway, on to the summary: Due to some magical mishap back in the mists of time, the natural course of the seasons has slowed, leading to summers and winters that last anywhere from two to ten years. Currently, the land is experiencing a summer that has lasted a decade, but it is coming to an end, and a long summer always means a long winter to follow. Into this setting of approaching doom, we follow (mostly) the Stark family, an ancient line that has always lived at the northernmost tip of civilization, first and last to face the long winters. Currently, the family consists of Ned Stark, his wife Catelyn and their 5 children, plus a bastard son who is only occasionally treated as anything but fully legitimate. The children are fairly young, ranging from 15 to 3, and part of the book's darkness is that these children are major players in its terrible events.

Ned Stark is fully content to stay in his ancestral home and prepare his family and lands for the coming winter, but a summons from the King to serve him at court tears Ned away from his life of peace, entangling him in the dangerous game of thrones, where you either win, or you die.

Recommended for: Fantasy fans ready for a commitment, and historical fiction fans willing to try something new.

Parental Worries: Gosh, where do I start? Incest, statutory rape, disembowelings, demonic forces, on and on. If you made a list of the things you don't want your kids reading about, you'd probably find 95% of them in this book and (I would assume) its sequels.

Audiobook Comments: Read by Roy Dotrice, who does a very good job. Thinking back on the book, I was under the impression that they had a female reader to do the female POVs, which is both a strong compliment to his skills and a sign that I'm still channeling Tales of the Otori.

Ramblings (Spoiler Threat: Low)
I have to grimace at that summary, because I'm pretty sure several lines of it are ripped straight from the back of the book. Unfortunately, it'd be really hard to summarize it any other way in less than 3 pages. I could go into the many different warring factions, the reasons for the throne's instability in the first place, and the completely separate but sinister albino Morgul-wraiths sweeping down from the winterlands, but really, at that point it's just easier to read the book. I will say though, that Thrones keeps up with its complex plot very well. Its many branches threaten to overwhelm the reader from time to time, but it manages to keep us afloat.

Martin has created a lush, beautiful world complete with history and at least a basic mythology (although he's got at least three more books to build with, there's plenty of room to expand both). He escapes many fantasy cliches by making everyone human, and in fact this first installment reads more like historical fiction than fantasy, with only a few fantastic bits, mostly at the beginning and end of the book.

One of the things I find frustrating about Thrones is that in the end, there is no clear 'evil' side. That's going to be a plus for many readers, but although I have no problem with complex characters and sympathetic antagonists, I do like to at least have a side to cheer for. I honestly liked at least one member of, and occasionally hoped for the success of, each of the three major factions in the game of thrones. Each side has its villians and champions. Nothing is clear cut, all exists as shades of gray. The balance and internal conflict it creates speaks of great skill on the author's part, but what it gains in interest and impressiveness, it loses in pure, deep-seated satisfaction. So overall, the series is promising and impressive, but anyone who considers Martin to be Tolkien's successor has been reading the wrong genre.