George R.R, Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series

Call me a late bloomer and I won't care.  I did not jump the bandwagon and took my time until I got really, really curious.  I only watched the Original Series by HBO sporadically because I found it too violent, but once I opened the first book owned by my sister-in-law: A Game of Thrones, I got hooked.  True, it's still very violent, but somehow, I appreciated why it is violent.  Besides, there is more to the story(stories) than sheer violence.

George R. R. Martin will make you believe that everything he has written may have happened in the past.  True, these are all works of fiction, but you would be too swept away to realize all these things because he mixes history, alchemy, other forms of magic, the different realms of earth, science fiction and what have you.  

All books were purchased at Fully Booked

Below I'll just mention my favorite characters or else these reviews will be as long as the books or even longer than the books they are describing. ;-)

(1996)

This is the precursor of the series.  Of course, since he mixed fantasy and things that could have happened in the past, he showed the most mundane and the most bizarre mixed with the most romantic and the most mysterious things.  

Here he introduces the different houses/clans.  Each house/clan has a black sheep...some have more evil in them and some have more good in them.  The practice of incest and who controls who is evident here.

The different realms/kingdoms and the manipulation all begins here.

You will find yourself being in the midst of every battle and there would be a time you would want to help a character or would want to kill a character yourself.

That is dangerous, I know, but it also means that the writer is really, really good.

Just be sure to have a reality check now and then.  Yes, you might say it's easy because there are plots that couldn't happen in real life, but I know of some people who were truly immersed in something that...

Here, Jon Snow is the best character for me and I am sure most of the readers would agree, but you should not discount the others, including the younger ones.  

I cried when Bran had to see something and had to suffer for it. Sigh.  

Oh, another thing...it's very obvious that a member of the male specie wrote this.  Thank goodness that there are brave women, but most of them are just puppets.  Oh well. That thing is still very real until now.  Anyways, some of those puppets became strong women too.  

At any rate, I must say that this book is no hype at all.  It is worthy of its best seller status. 

(1999)

If I liked Jon Snow best in A Game of Thrones, in this second book I love his sister, Arya, the best.  I found her very, very brave to try to be like Yentl and Mulan(ladies pretending to be men for a certain purpose).  I met new people/characters and journeyed with them.  I still got appalled with a lot of scenes and I was mystified with others.  They are all older now, some wiser and some more stupid than ever.  I am also awe struck with Daenerys more than ever.  I actually respected  her in #agot too. 

Bran is haunted by forgotten memories and even if the insecure Tyrion is abominable at times, you can't help but feel for him, one way or another.

Which book do I like better?  I don't know if everyone would agree with me, but I could not compare.  This one, though it could stand alone, is very much part of the other and the first one is open-ended, so...

As for Queen Cersei, you love her, you hate her...

Like its precursor, it is worth reading too.

(2000)

The plot thickens.  There is more blood lost and some scenes are just too gory, but at the same time, there are places and scenes that seem magnificent.

Still in the same style of the two books that preceded this one, the scenes are told from how the main characters perceive what happened, just like how history is written by the victors.

Sansa Stark doesn't get to marry King Joffrey Baratheon, but instead, she marries Tyrion Lannister.  

I've seen the RED WEDDING on TV and my mouth was agape for the longest time.  I shuddered.  I didn't know that I would read about it here.

It's somehow depicted differently, but gory just the same.  Being slaughtered worse than animals? Gosh!  

Poor Robb was being blamed for everything because according to Frey, he was a rabid wolf-man...being one with his direwolf, just because he did not fulfill his promise to House Frey.   Oh me, oh my?  Such violence, but very exciting too.  

Sigh. Even with the gore, I like this one too. 

(2005)

There are many characters missing in this book, but are still alive.  I greatly admire Arya in this book and hopefully, that admiration is not displaced.  

Everyone is of course older, and Cersei is now the regent of King Tommen Baratheon because he started ruling at eight.

A lot of new characters are introduced here and I must say, they are very interesting.

In my opinion, this is the darkest among the first four books...oh, what am I saying?  The Red Wedding is still the bloodiest of them all.

At any rate, this book made me respect Sansa Stark more.

Who is my favorite character here then? Jon Snow.

Need I say more?

Oh, I guess I should.

It's also worth the money.

(2011)

I think I'll have a separate review for this book because I have not yet finished this.  :-)  So far, so good!  I know this is the book where Cersei's walk of shame is based on and I am getting fond of Tyrion, now that he is a fugitive. 


Until later...