Just reviewed George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” for SBR

Folks, reviewing a book that’s over 800 pages long is daunting, but I managed it tonight with my review of George R.R. Martin’s A GAME OF THRONES, which is here:

http://shinybookreview.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/george-r-r-martins-a-game-of-thrones-a-winning-hand/

Note my title.  I can’t resist puns, and as Ned Stark is the Hand of the King — and I feel his character is a winner regardless of how his own personal circumstances play out — well . . . you see the result.

If you’ve somehow missed this book in the past and you love epic fantasy or even if you don’t but love stories that are based on medieval feudalism and nation-states, you’ll enjoy A GAME OF THRONES.  So go read my review, then hasten to the bookstore or online emporium and grab this book forthwith.  (It’s just that good.)

******* UPON FURTHER REVIEW **************

I figured I’d add a few more notes here that I unfortunately had to leave out of my giant-sized review.  First, I know full well that the world the cycle of A Song of Ice and Fire resides on has really long summers (several years in duration) and extremely long winters (decades-long, at worst), but wasn’t able to say so.  Please know that I do understand this.

Second, some of the characters in any of Martin’s novels are designed to make you hate them.  It’s to his credit that these characters are so vile that you actively root for them to get killed off (Viserys is one of those, and there’s more to come in the upcoming novels).

Third and last — Tyrion is by far my most favorite character in the entire cycle, and the guy playing him in the HBO series, Peter Dinklage, got a deserved Emmy nomination.