The epic saga begins with a great introduction of all the different houses in Westeros, their lands, and their influence. A vast land, different parts each has a lord, and one king tries to rule them all.
Watch your back while walking through Kingslanding, an enemy could lure you behind the very next corner. There are spies everywhere and no one to trust, as everyone plays by their own rules to their own benefit. Ridden by greed and hatred, only the strongest get the power and the weak are left behind to suffer. To walk over corpses gets a new definition.
I have already watched the Game of Thrones series on TV, and I was mesmerized by the story. That and the dragons involved were reason enough for me to dive deeper into Westeros.
As there are always differences between a book and the same named film, I was curious to find parts that weren’t mentioned in the film and how they affect the plot. I think the books and films complement each other nicely, but it’s not necessary to have seen the movies first or vice versa.
At first, it may be a bit of a struggle to keep all those families and characters apart, but this settles by itself with reading on as their names occur constantly. Don’t get intimidated by a large number of pages; the beginning might be a bit long and tiresome which takes up pace after the introduction is over. The only parts I didn’t like were the parts with the battles.
I usually don’t read fantasy, but this first part of the series has convinced me to give this genre a try more often.
