A Game of Thrones is a sprawling epic fantasy with a richly detailed world and complex characters, but it suffers from overly verbose writing and repetitive descriptions. The plot is engaging, but the execution is marred by lazy prose and ambiguity. The book has moments of brilliance, such as the surgical operation scene, but overall, it feels overlong and could benefit from tighter editing.
A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin is a massive undertaking, with a detailed world and a plethora of characters and political intrigue. The story is set in a world where children grow up fast, and the narrative is filled with houses, wars, prophecies, and dragons. The book has been highly hyped, and while it does deliver on the promise of an epic fantasy, it falls short in terms of writing quality. The prose is often overly verbose and repetitive, with ambiguous descriptions that can be confusing. For example, the description of a sword's sharpness is compared to a razor, which is a lazy and unconvincing metaphor. The book also contains scenes of paedophilia and violence that, while fitting within the dark tone of the story, can be jarring. Despite these issues, there are moments of brilliance, such as the surgical operation scene, which is described with a level-headed skill that the rest of the book lacks. The heart tree and the pseudo-occult ritual called bloodmagic are also well-handled elements. However, the book's length and the repetitive nature of the writing make it a challenging read. It feels as though the book could have been significantly shorter and more impactful with tighter editing.
Quick quotes
The best books are those about which all previous impressions (if any) are dashed during the reading.
It doesn't work. If we had been given earlier references to Will's knowledge of how to compare at a glance the relative sharpnesses of swords and razors, then we might forgive this sort of sloppiness.
The reader is not stupid, and passages like these read like overkill.