I'm sure there are a gazillion other reviews for this book already online, but I will still throw in my sword onto the side of praising George R.R. Martin. For those who haven't heard what this book's about, let me give you a very basic run-down. When the solemn and upright Lord Eddard Stark is named the Hand of the King to his best friend Robert Baratheon, he is plunged into court intrigues where it is nearly impossible to tell who is friend and foe.
Yes, I know that summary is extremely vague. Go read the book--there is a ton more to it, as the eight hundred seven pages can attest.
Despite the book's extreme length, I remained consistently interested in the plot. George R.R.Martin chose to tell the story from multiple perspectives--including Stark's children and wife, and a couple of his political opponents--and these switches were what really kept my interest. Martin's characters are extremely life-like. They have one clear aspect that they display with regularity, but then there are other scenes that fleshed them out and made me question them and kept me turning pages. I also liked how Martin did not just let the "good guys" have the right--it added further depth to the already intriguing plot and, again, kept me reading. I was also quite impressed with the world he has created. It is clearly a fantasy setting, but, in this book, magic was not a huge factor. I liked that difference and am curious to see if he will keep the magic to a minimum in the later books.
Needless to say, I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
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