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NOOK Book Review: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

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Wow. I don’t even know where to start this NOOK Book review so I’m just going to begin at the beginning and take you through my experience with A Game of Thrones. Like most folks, I heard about A Game of Thrones because it’s a big hit on HBO and has a pretty large fan base with respect to readers of the novels. I’m the type of person who at least likes to be aware of what’s going on in pop culture and when A Game of Thrones hit the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list, I thought that I should probably give the story a shot. Plus, I’ve been looking (not that hard) for a good fantasy series to read since I’ve pretty much read and re-read everything that the master of the genre – J.R.R. Tolkien – published.

So with the thought in my mind that this was a New York Times bestseller, a hit series on HBO, and a fantasy story that was gaining momentum in pop culture I got myself the NOOK Book version of A Game of Thrones. For reference, the NOOK Book version of the novel has 753 pages, some 733 of which are the actual story versus the final 20 NOOK Book pages which are an appendix listing the relationships of the different characters in the story.

I’m not sure how deep into detail I want to get with respect to the story itself, but there are a few major, overarching points that I want to make about this book.

First, A Game of Thrones does not read like a fantasy or science fiction story except in certain places. Other than the opening prologue, the reader has to wait hundreds (literally, hundreds) of pages before any event occurs that is actually supernatural in its nature. Further, the reader isn’t treated to a second supernatural, fantastical event until the very last page or two of the book. And even at that, after the reader gets through 733 pages of this “fantasy” novel the fantastical event at the end of the novel is good, but not enough in this reader’s mind.

Second, this is a long book. A really long book. As a reader, I enjoy long books because they give me a chance to get wrapped up in a story and really try to understand the perspectives of the characters, why they do what they do, what larger issues are being commented on by the story/author, etc. I didn’t get much of that from A Game of Thrones and, frankly, the lack of both character depth and progressive character development for the majority of these 733 pages is alarming. Based just upon the character depth and development alone, I’m shocked that A Game of Thrones made its way to the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Shocked.

Third, while I eventually began to accept what A Game of Thrones had to offer, I can’t really say that I enjoyed reading the book. Don’t misunderstand – I didn’t loathe reading the book. If I hated A Game of Thrones I would have just stopped reading it and went on to the next book in my unread stack. There’s something in this story… there’s something there that made me – as a fan of fantasy and science fiction writing – want to see the superiority and depth of this story and its characters. But I just couldn’t get myself into it that deeply.

The story of the Stark family ruling at Winterfell, being split up, and ultimately having the head of the family decimated in King’s Landing after King Robert dies is certainly a good story. But the reasons behind the various actions that lead to the end of the novel are not that deep. Look, the Lannisters are scumbags and they do whatever they want to do without regarding for right or wrong. They put an inbred young king on the throne who doesn’t even know that his father is actually his uncle and I guess that there is supposed to be more of a gripping story than appears to the naked eye there, but I didn’t see it. However, a more compelling story for this reader was that of Dany and her brother Viserys and their interactions with the Dothraki. And yet even in that story, Martin (seemingly randomly) chooses to kill off one of the most interesting characters in the novel, Khal Drogo, to reach the storyline progression that is achieved at the end of A Game of Thrones. It just seemed to me that in terms of storytelling, Drogo could have made it a little bit further in the story.

There are a variety of lesser stories interwoven throughout the novel that also have potential, such as the stories regarding the Mormont family, the different characters and their interactions in the Night’s Watch, the Others beyond the Wall, etc. But Martin doesn’t really get into those stories too much. One would think that with 733 pages of story, he could dive into one of those sub-stories and really give it some color. The again, if he chose not to give a depth of color to the main characters, I guess it would seem silly to do that with the minor ones instead.

I know this NOOK Book review seems more like I’m complaining than anything else, but I just can’t figure out what my exact gripe is with A Game of Thrones. My gripe is not that the story is mostly sluggish or mostly boring – I can imagine many folks enjoying this read. And my gripe also doesn’t have to do with the extremely repetitive words and phrases that Martin uses throughout the novel (if I read that a character ate something “to break his/her fast” again or that a warrior was robed in armor that looked like “a lobster,” I’m going to punch someone).

In general, I think my problem with A Game of Thrones is that it really does take hundreds of pages for Martin to reveal a plot point that any astute reader had probably already discovered and processed the moment that the plot point was hinted at… hundreds of pages earlier. In addition, while Martin’s writing style isn’t necessarily bad, his narration style leaves a lot to be desired. A Game of Thrones does not benefit by the way Martin jumps from one part of the story to the next (very similar to the way the Lord of the Rings movies follows the progression of the story). Aside from being distracting to the discerning reader, jumping from one scene to a completely different one reveals another one of my gripes with this story – it seems to have almost been written in a format that would make it easily adaptable to television.

After 733 pages of NOOK Book reading, I can’t quite put my finger on the element of the book that makes A Game of Thrones a hit show on HBO. However, there is little doubt in my mind that this story was written – at least in part – from a desire to see the characters come to life on film or television and that is what is at the core of what bothers me. When you read a book like Tarzan or a book like The Hobbit or a series like The Lord of The Rings, you aren’t reading about characters who were created to eventually be placed on the big screen. Go back and read a book like Treasure Island or Robinson Crusoe and tell me if you think that the characters in those books were written with the express purpose of eventually making a video game or television series based off of the characters. The answer is clearly no (and not just because those mediums of entertainment didn’t exist when the books were published). These books were written to tell a compelling story and let’s be honest – content is king.

The reason why The Lord of the Rings has stood the test of time is because J.R.R. Tolkien created a story with characters that are so deep and with such a rich back story that a fan of fantasy novels can get lost in his legendarium and never cease to be amazed at a new discovery that informs the core story of good versus evil. It’s that content that made Tolkien a master of his craft. And in truth, it’s that lack of content – the lack of any compelling, overarching reason as to why events are happening – that brings down A Game of Thrones for this reader. I understand that there are other books in this series. However, I have to ask the question – if a deeper, compelling story isn’t revealed after 733 NOOK Book pages of reading, then what else is there? Could Martin have made the next books in this series any less substantive, any less dramatic, any more unnecessarily graphic, or any more frustrating to read than A Game of Thrones? I have access to the next book in this series, but I’m unsure if I’m going to read it yet. I might give the first chapter a try just to see what’s doing.

For those of you out there who are looking for something different to read – A Game of Thrones is definitely different. However, if you’re looking for a good science fiction series or a fantasy series with a deep, compelling story to get into, then I don’t think that A Game of Thrones is for you. The story isn’t quite science fiction nor is it quite fantasy except in very few, very brief instances in its 733 pages. And for a science fiction or fantasy fan, that’s just not enough. The book is long – that’s for sure. But length aside, A Game of Thrones is a case where quantity does not equal quality.

Brief Review Of The “We Are One” Concert

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Earlier today Washington DC sprung into celebration as the “We Are One” concert began the inaugural festivities for President-Elect Barack Obama. Since HBO went “free” during the show (and replays), I was able to watch the show – and, for the most part, I enjoyed it.

Bruce Springsteen did a great job of opening the show with his 2001 hit, The Rising, and Beyonce tore the house down with her rendition of America the Beautiful. I also enjoyed the Garth Brooks set with American Pie and Shout. Usher did a good job with Shakira and Herbie Hancock and I thought Josh Grobin performed like the vocal master that he has come to be.

The U2 performance, on the other hand, was marred for me by Bono’s ridiculous overselling each and every chorus. Good grief! Have you ever seen the episode of South Park called “Smug Alert!?” This is the one where some folks go around getting hybrid cars and act like their crap doesn’t stink. I think that South Park got that idea off of watching Bono. With the way this guy bops around the stage and makes love to his songs as he sings them you’d think he was single-handedly saving the world with each note! But even Bono couldn’t bring down the high spirits that were running throughout the concert.

Barack Obama’s message during the concert was a good one, too. Before the concert ended, Obama said the following:

I won’t pretend that meeting any one of these challenges will be easy. It will take more than a month or a year, and it will likely take many. Along the way there will be setbacks and false starts and days that test our fundamental resolve as a nation.

That’s right! I’m as happy as the next guy that we have a new President coming in, but I do not look at him as a cure-all for the nation’s problems. Look, people, President-Elect Obama is stepping into the Presidency at a horrendous time in our nation’s history. With two wars abroad and a shaky economy at home – we, as a country, need to roll our sleeves up and start getting to work. But heed Obama’s words above: this will not take a day, a week, a month, or even one year. We have long-term problems that require long-term solutions. I just hope that we don’t see another President destroyed by a media which is fueled by fanatics who want to see results immediately.

While the concert was inspiring I do take issue with the theme of the show being “We Are One.” Actually, let me be more specific. I don’t take issue with that theme, per se, rather I’m disappointed in anyone who is living in this country and did not believe that we were one before Obama won the election. Frankly, anyone who believed that we were a divided country or a country set apart in dozens of fractures either believes the bullshit they see on television or is completely out of touch with the people around them. All anyone ever had to do was talk to a neighbor or a coworker or a classmate to see that we all share the same problems – regardless of race, religion, gender, age, etc.

So while the concert was tremendously uplifting and a great way to kick off the inaugural festivities, I couldn’t help but being disappointed by some of the celebrities and entertainers who sounded as if they were waking up in a brand new America. Maybe Obama has given these people the hope that many of us already had from living in the best country in the history of the world. If that’s the case, then I welcome these people to the reality that we’ve all been living in. However, if they were simultaneously celebrating the arrival of one President and the departure of another, then I think it’s sad that they allowed one man to ruin their view of their nation.

Many of us grew weary of the outgoing administration; but we never stopped loving our country or believing that we were one with our countrymen. Let’s hope that those who are beginning to love their country for the first time or who are reigniting their love of the United States are not so fickle with these emotions now that we are all “one.”

Bill Maher is a Scumbag

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Anyone who is unfortunate enough to watch this self-righteous loser’s show on HBO (a channel that my apartment will hopefully be canceling on May 1st), knows that Bill Maher is a jerk. He’s the type of arrogant, pompous prick who thinks that his thoughts are better than everyone else’s and that – because he’s smarter that you are – you should just take his “witty” barbs in jest. In case you haven’t heard, the New York Daily News can fill us in on what this dirtbag said about the Pope the other night:

“Whenever a cult leader sets himself up as God’s infallible wing man here on Earth, lock away the kids,” said Maher, comparing the Catholic Church to the polygamist cult authorities raided in Texas last week.

“I’d like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult,” Maher said. “Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats.”

After Maher said this, he flashed a picture of Pope Benedict XVI on the screen. Not only is this disturbing and disgusting, but it shows that Maher has a gross lack of understanding of reality. All this desperate-for-ratings-jerk had to do was listen to ONE comment that the Pope made since he arrived in America a few days ago to realize that he has reached out to the extreme minority of Catholics who have been abused by bastards who managed to make their way into the priesthood. All this loser had to do was open his ears (not even his mind, just his ears) and listen to the healing words spoken by the Pope. The Pope stopped and met with an inter-religious group the other night to let them know that we’re all in this thing together. The man has been the very height of religious professionalism and ecumenical evangelism since he assumed the Papacy and since he entered America.

Now, I know that this loser Maher said these disgusting, hurtful words because he wanted to get people like me to write posts like this. I also know that he wants to get people like me to watch his apology on his show tonight. Well, Maher proves once again that he knows nothing about our religion. If Maher is truly sorry for his words, then he has my forgiveness and the forgiveness of the Church. We don’t need to watch his stupid show to hear him say, “I’m sorry.” We are, however, also consumers of goods and as a consumer of HBO I choose to vote with my dollars and no longer have this channel on my lineup.

In the act of drawing a higher rating to his program, I hope that Bill Maher has set-off an Imus-like firestorm and eventually finds himself unemployed. He’s disgusting and should be shunned by all.

Update – April 2010: This has become one of my favorite entries on the entire blog. Why, you ask? Simple – there are so many brainwashed people out there who send in anti-Catholic, anti-religion, anti-white, and anti-Republican hate mongering comments that each new one I receive makes me laugh a little bit more. Let me make this clear – hate mongering comments do not get posted on the blog. So please, continue to send in your hateful comments, but know that I am the only one getting a kick out of them. That crap will never be posted on my personal blog.