A Song of Ice & Fire - Series Review
George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire
Series is the best book series I’ve read in my life. It has layered and
complex characters, phenomenal world-building, beautiful prose, and an
epic and very intricate story. There are so many great hidden details,
easter eggs, sophisticated plot threads, and deep history that it's very clear how much effort and planning has been put into this series and it’s
no wonder that it’s taken so long for George R.R. Martin to write these
books. I can’t wait to re-read this series a couple more times and I
know for sure I’ll pick up a ton of new details that I’ve missed on my first
read. Obviously, the series isn’t finished yet but it doesn’t look like
the series is going to be finished anytime soon so until The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring
gets published (which might never happen), this is going to substitute
as my series review. This review will cover Books 1-5 in the series, it
contains heavy spoilers, and it will be covered in 8 sections which are
Characters, Plot, Setting, World-Building, Readability/Writing Style, Pacing, Favorite
Moments, & Best/Worst Book.
Image: Daenerys Targaryen.
[Characters]:
[Characters]:
This series is a master class in having complex characters with fantastic character arcs. There’s loveable characters like Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. Through their separate journeys, they have a lot of conflicts within themselves and have major obstacles to overcome because of who they are such as a bastard who's trying to chart his own path, a dwarf who's despised by his father, and a young girl who has no family left in the world except for her manipulative older brother. They go through incredible journeys and come out as completely different characters by the 5th book. There’s also the arrogant characters who I initially despised like Jaime Lannister, Sandor Clegane, and Theon Greyjoy who go through traumatizing situations, have amazing redemption arcs and I ended up having a lot of sympathy for them. Jaime is now one of my favorite characters in the entire series. Even a character as cruel and manipulative as Cersei started getting a little of my sympathy after she gets her own POV chapters in A Feast for Crows, because I started to understand her motivations and her need to protect her children. There’s also some brilliant characters who are operating behind the scenes like Littlefinger, who secretly instigates wars and feuds with the major families, and Varys who orchestrates his own spy network and is secretly scheming to get a Targaryen back on the Throne while openly supporting the Lannisters. There’s too many awesome characters for me to talk about in this review but I also wanted to mention some of the great mysterious characters in the series such as Euron Greyjoy, Melisandre, and the 3-Eyed Crow. Euron in particular has one of the most fascinating backstories I’ve read. The only person who sailed to Valyria and lived to tell the tale, finding mysterious objects during all his travels in Essos, capturing warlocks from Qarth, and having a ship that is feared across the world with a crew full of mutes. Euron’s such a fascinating character and it looks like he’s being set up to becoming one of the cruelest villains yet, in a series already filled with cruel villains.
The best aspect about the characters in this series is that there isn’t a character purely good or purely evil (except for Euron, Joffrey, and Ramsay). Even the nicest person like Davos is a smuggler for a living and a terrible person like Jaime is shown to have done many great deeds that aren’t common knowledge until we read his POV chapters. Characters not only have to deal with opposing rivals or events, but also deal with startling conflicts within themselves such as when Jon Snow finds out his father was beheaded by Joffrey, and he has to make a difficult choice between running away from the Night’s Watch to avenge his father or to keep his oaths as a member of the Night’s Watch. A great technique I’ve noticed that George R.R. Martin uses to make us sympathize with terrible people is by taking away what they love or value most. Jaime was a reputable swordsman and that’s what he prides himself on most so after he loses his sword hand, his character becomes vulnerable, he starts opening up to show his softer side, and he tries to redeem his horrible actions in the past by doing heroic and selfless acts. The characters in this series are complex, gray and multi-layered. The characters are the #1 strength of this series.
Favorite Characters – Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, & Davos.
Image: The Others.
[Plot]:
[Plot]:
Image: Stannis Baratheon & Melisandre.
[Setting]:
[Setting]:
Westeros is the backdrop of this series but Essos is also shown in the Daenerys chapters and is featured heavily in A Dance with Dragons. This is a really interesting world, with the seasons being extremely long, winter being a rare occasion but extremely lethal when it does approach, and a world that has lost its magic. Dragons no longer exist in the current timeline, the Others are a myth, and magic is rarely seen or used. But with the birth of Daenerys’s dragons, magic slowly starts returning to the world and the Others are starting to be seen more frequently. Westeros itself is a cruel but fascinating world with its amazing structures like the Eyrie of the Vale, the Wall, Casterly Rock, etc. Every location is very distinct and has their own feel. Essos is rarely shown, but when it is, it is a very strange yet intriguing place. Essos has a mix of different places like the Italy-influenced Braavos and the Egypt-influenced Meereen to the creepy and mysterious city of Asshai. The Known World (the name for the world inhabiting Westeros, Essos, Sothoryos etc.) is the most in-depth and captivating world since J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.
[World-Building]:
The world-building in this series is phenomenal. There’s so many rich histories and lore in this series that I could read an entire book that compiles all the history of this world. The World of Ice & Fire is exactly that and it was such a phenomenal read that I wouldn’t mind a Part 2 to that book. The entire current storyline of the series is built heavily upon these intricate backstories and there’s so many lingering mysteries that make the current story so fascinating such as why Rhaegar Targaryen “kidnapped” Lyanna Stark, who was Jon Snow’s mother, and who ordered the murders of Elia Martell and her children. Major events in the past also heavily influence the current story such as Robert’s Rebellion, and The Long Night. I suspect George R.R. Martin was a big fan of History and Historical Fiction since he’s an amazing re-teller of histories and creates very compelling backstories. The different peoples and cultures are also great such as the Dornish, the Ironborn, the Wildlings, and so on. Not to mention the fantastic beasts and creatures of the series such as the Others, the Children of the Forest, and DRAGONS!!! Another strength of this series along with the complex characters, is without a doubt the world-building. None of the world-building throughout the series feels like a long and boring info-dump like some other series might have. George R.R. Martin likes to sprinkle bits and pieces of world-building and past histories and makes us connect the dots later on. I actually wish he wrote longer pages on his history/lore because he’s just excellent at it and his bits and pieces of info just leave me craving for more.
Image: Casterly Rock.
[Readability/Writing Style]:
[Readability/Writing Style]:
In terms of readability, it’s not the most accessible fantasy series out there, but it isn't hard to understand either. There are a lot of archaic words used throughout the series which isn’t explained so it required a lot of google searching but once a word/term was used a couple of times in different contexts, it was pretty easy to adjust. The same goes for George R.R. Martin's writing style. He likes to frequently open his chapters in the middle of a scene and then slowly fill in the gaps as the chapter goes on so that was a little jarring for me at first but after about 100 or so pages into the story, it was easy to get used to. After the adjusting process, I really started to admire his beautiful prose and I appreciated his use of archaic words because it transports you into the medieval setting of the story and makes it feel very authentic.
[Pacing]:
Aside from A Feast for Crows (Book 4), the overall series had really good pacing. Even in the sections where George R.R. Martin took some time away from the story to info-dump and build his world or to take some time for long character interactions, it was very interesting and I actually wanted more of that. George is such a phenomenal story-teller that I never really found any slow or boring moments in his books (except for Book 4). His action is fantastic, there’s so much intrigue with the mysteries, the page-turning suspense with the plot, and not to mention the several jaw-dropping twists/revelations throughout the series.
[Favorite Moments]:
My favorite moments are probably the obvious ones for most people. Ned Stark’s execution, the Red Wedding, the Purple Wedding, Littlefinger’s revelation that he convinced Lysa Arryn to kill her husband Jon Arryn, the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion killing his father Tywin, Oberyn vs. the Mountain, the battle at the Wall, Catelyn Stark being revived as Lady Stonehart and slowly assassinating the Freys, and Mance Rayder being revealed to be alive and disguised as Rattleshirt. Even with all these insane moments, the most mind-blowing reveal was that Rhaegar Targaryen’s son, Aegon Targaryen, actually didn’t die because he was smuggled out of King’s Landing by Varys during the Lannister takeover of the city. There are so many more awesome moments but this review will go on forever if I don’t stop here.
[Best & Worst Book]:
The best book in the series is A Storm of Swords and it’s not even close. There isn’t a single storyline in that book that I didn’t like. It had break-neck pacing and had so many shocking moments like the Red Wedding, the Purple Wedding, Lysa Arryn admitting to killing Jon Arryn, Tyrion’s trial, and so on. It’s the most perfect book I’ve read in the Fantasy genre so far. The worst book in the series is A Feast For Crows. “Worst” is such a strong word. It’s not a bad book by any means but it’s my least favorite book in the series. A big reason why is because all my favorite characters (not to mention, the MAIN characters of the series) were not featured and were instead replaced by Cersei (who I despise) and Brienne (who’s a great character but I didn’t really care about her at the time). Brienne’s storyline was slow at times but aside from that, the writing in this book is still very good and I enjoyed the other storylines such as Jaime’s arc, the chaos in Dorne, and the Iron Islands storyline.
Image: Tyrion during the Battle of the Blackwater.
[Final Thoughts & Series Rating]:
[Final Thoughts & Series Rating]:
A Song of Ice & Fire is a series I’m going to be reading many times throughout my life. I’ll never get tired of this world, and there’s so much to explore and understand, with the multitude of fan theories and several details hidden throughout the 5 books. I want to give this series a 10/10 but A Feast for Crows had a slight dip in quality, and it isn't a fully completed story yet, with 2 more books yet to be released. Even if the series doesn’t get finished (which it probably won’t), these 5 books were a fantastic ride and this series is definitely on the Mount Rushmore of the Fantasy genre.
1) A Game of Thrones – 9/10
2) A Clash of Kings – 9.25/10
3) A Storm of Swords – 10/10
4) A Feast for Crows – 8/10
5) A Dance with Dragons – 9.5/10
Series Rating: 9.5/10
*My Rating System*
5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Really Good to Great
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible
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