1. The Reading and Learning Experience
A Game of Thrones is a novel by George R. It is the first of five books in the series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Published in 1996 by Voyager Books, the novel gradually received critical acclaim, becoming a nationwide best seller, claiming the Locus, Nebula, and Ignotus award. Being an epic fantasy, A Game of Thrones rapidly dominated its genre. "The book grips the reader from page one" and is set in a "magnificent" fantasy world that is "mystical, but still believable," Lauren K. Nathan from the Associated Press writes. The theme of A Game of Thrones primarily emphases the notion of power, and the brutal, dishonest, and immoral things we do in order to retain it. .
Throughout most of the novel, the climb to power remains to be one of the key focuses for the central characters. A Game of Thrones is a rather brilliant title for this book, considering a throne is one of the leading symbolisms for power. In the book, characters such as the queen, Cersei Lannister, and her ring of consultants all seem to be in a continuous state of competition. Anyone who holds even a minute amount of power, such as the lesser lords, scheme and claw their way to supremacy. Ironically, you realize the one wielding the power either gets overthrown, betrayed, assassinated, or simply becomes overwhelmed by the stresses of presiding over seven kingdoms. .
A Game of Thrones uniquely follows three principle storylines simultaneously that, to my surprise, eventually intertwine with each other. In one storyline, the Stark's, a northern, humble family become intertwined with the deadly rulings and politics of King's Landing, the capital of Westeros. There, the Lannister's, an immensely rich, royal family become involved with a scheme to eliminate a member of the stark family. A member of the family who, to their disbelief, discovered an astonishing, powerful secret concerning the Lannister's. A secret that could possibly rip the Lannister's off their mighty throne and dishonor them, for the entire realm to see.