Game of Thrones: part 3

     


     

     So, these books just keep getting bigger and bigger. But I must admit, it took me a little over two weeks to read it and it's still the fastest I've read 900+ pages, even if they were spread over two or three books, not just one.

     A Storm of Swords is the third instalment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. As you probably know, the fifth season of the TV show Game of Thrones which is based on these books has aired and finished already a little over a month ago. I decided to boycott the show until I read all the books because for me it's better to get the surprises and shocks on paper rather than on screen; a joy I am still deprived of because I had watched up to season four already which ran parallel up to book three.

     So now, I have read what I watched and watched what I have read. I thought that I could read book four, A Feast for Crows, then watch the new season, however, it turns out that book four AND five actually are parallel, where book four shows things from the perspective of a few characters, then book five goes back to show the same time period from the perspective of the other characters. The TV show showed a combination of books four and five which means I still have to postpone watching season five a bit longer.

     This book was much lighter on scenes with Tyrion Lannister, which was the downside for me. Other than that, I could safely say it's the best of the three books so far. The plot is thickening and most of the characters are getting new twists in their stories and we start to understand a little more about the Lord of Light and Dorne and some of those things we only heard of remotely in the first two books.

     The next book in the series for me, number four, A Feast for Crows, is about two hundred pages shorter than book three, so I hope to get through it faster and also, since all the action will be new to me, I am hoping for an even more enjoyable experience than the three books I have got through.

     I have a few books on my TBR list to get through then I will be jumping back into the world of Westeros and Essos and I'll be reporting back right here, so stay tuned for the updates and pick up your copies and join me and get in on the action. You will not regret it.

Until then, Valar Dohaeris.

Game of Thrones: part 2

     
     

     So, it's been five months since I read A Game of Thrones, the first book in The Song f Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, and I finally got to reading the second book of the series, A Clash of Kings.

     AS mentioned in the first post, I decided to chronicle my journey reading these hefty tomes and to share with you some glimpses of my experience in case someone wants to do the same or just join me on this.

     A Clash of Kings clocked in at 728 pages and it took me two weeks to finish it. Two weeks of A LOT more reading than I'm normally used to mind you. But I must say, I enjoyed it much more than the first book. I have already seen all four seasons of the HBO series and according the the internet, the TV show takes us up till the end of book three, which will be my next step in this journey. The first season turned out hat it stuck pretty much to the books but It seems that for book two the TV show creators began deviating a little; not much, but enough to keep the books still interesting and a little surprising. Another reason I may have enjoyed A Clash of Kings more is that I have watched season one of the TV show more than once but I only watched seasons two through four only once and I was binge watching so my memory of them is vague at best.

     I must also say that from the TV show my best character is Tyrion Lannister, portrayed by the genius Peter Dinklage, and reading the books just made my admiration for him increase ten fold. The character and all his lines are perfect and he is just a delight to read and follow whether on the page or on screen. Tyrion's character got a lot of air time in A Clash of Kings, which in and of itself is a reason to love this installment in the series.


But knowing that the TV show is deviating from the books I hope I don't get surprised by his death in the books any time soon. And please if you are reading this and already know the answer to that, please no spoilers. Even if he does live till the end of the most recently published book five, I still don't want to know. The anticipation is as sweet as the wines of Arbor.

     Long story short, for book two of the series things are getting interesting and engaging. I read a lot over these past couple of weeks but it didn't feel like a chore, which reading should never feel like anyway. And stretching my reading speed is always good exercise.

     The interesting thing right now is that season five of the show has just began airing and GoT noise in the media and on the internet has been relentless. I've been dodging spoilers left and right. I plan not to watch the show until I finish the books; the ones that have been published anyway. All reports say that the story lines are beginning to deviate greatly and will deviate even more as the show moves into season six and probably even seven. And of course right now the whole trouble revolves around whether GRRM will be able to finish the books ahead of the HBO series or are we going to see the ending on TV first. As an avid fan of reading I always prefer to get the first taste of a story printed on the pages of a book so I'm rooting for George and I hope he's already finished the books and just playing the fool for some marketing stunt or something.

     I'll break away from the world of Westeros for a while with some other books off my TBR list and I'll be back again with A Storm of Swords.

     Until then, Valar Morghulis.

Let the Game, of Thrones, begin

I know, it's cheeky. Just had to be done.

Now, I haven't updated this blog for a while now. Between the job, relocating to a different country and working on a new novel in Arabic, there was just no time for the blog. But twenty pages into A Game of Thrones and I was moved once again to speak up, or write down. Sorry again for that!

I've always read about how in order to garner more readers for your blog you should write about topics that interest your target demographic and stuff like that. I'm sure the advice is true, but I still find more pleasure in putting down what comes to mind when I am moved to write and hoping that a like-minded soul will find it, enjoy it, and that it might make the few minutes of their day it will take him or her to read it just a little bit better. And yes, I don't intend to keep you reading for more than a few minutes.

So, A Game of Thrones. I've watched all four seasons of the TV show and I have read about the books a lot. One of the reviews said, quoting loosely, that "it grips you from the first page and never lets go". Or something like that. But when I began to read it, keeping that quote and many others like it, in mind, and expecting to enjoy the ride, I did not expect it to be THIS good. Reviews usually exaggerate. But not these ones. A few pages in and I was like WHAAAAAAAT! I must tell it to the whole world. And here I am telling it to you. Could you please share it with the whole of your world? I need more views on this thing. Just kidding. Not really. (cue awkward laugh)

Those who read the books will relate

Back to A Song of Ice and Fire. After watching a few episodes of the show, being the book addict that I am (you can check how addicted I am by reading my other posts here and here), I decided I must read the books. I was trapped in the age-old dilemma of book lovers "Book first or TV show/movie first? And will one ruin the other?". It's not really age-old, just as old as the age when they started making books into TV shows and movies.

But nonetheless, I had started watching and I was hooked and from what I understood the books were so much grander in scale, I was bound to have fresh surprises anyway. I went ahead and did my research (again, book addict, some would say, nerd, but that is neither here nor there) and decided I wanted the hardcover Bantam copies and in the part of the world where I live they were not available. So I ordered them online from a bookstore in Dubai. Kinokuniya, if you must know. Visit if you are ever in this part of the world and you won't regret it. I picked them up myself after giving them strict instructions to store them well and keep the books in mint condition. I handled the books as a careful cargo should be and they travelled with me on three flights till they landed safely on my bookshelves, all set next to each other taking up almost half the space on that shelf. They look beautiful. And the sheer size of them is a clear indication that there is A LOT to enjoy in these tomes even if one has watched the show. It didn't take much to realize that. As I said, twenty pages.

The great thing I liked is that watching the show first is actually helping keep all the characters, Houses and geography a little clearer than it would have been if I were reading the books first. And although all the scenes in the few pages I have just read are all included in the opening fifteen minutes of the show, the prose itself is enjoyable; savory; melts in your mouth and goes down smoothly. Again, addict, what do you expect!

The other thing is realizing that if the writing and the story is this good on the first few pages, how great will it be when we get to the parts where people start to get their heads, and hands, chopped off. Reading a story when you know nothing about it is a journey of discovery and is so much better when the story is actually good. But I think it's safe to say that with the scale of this epic fantasy, George R.R. Martin, created a work that is so grand that no matter how good the show is, you can still be excited about the book. And knowing what is yet to come within the next pages and be anticipating it is another great feeling I only felt once before when I read The Godfather.

I promised to only keep you for a few minutes and thanks for sticking around. Go see the show if you haven't. But more importantly, go read the books, even if you have. I have started a series of blogs called Project: Ulysses about my plan to prepare myself for, then actually, reading Joyce's classic novel. Yes, as you expected, there is only one post in that so-called series, but I will update it, after I finish A Game of Thrones. And in the meantime, I am thinking of beginning a Project: Game of Thrones series. Go to your local independent bookstore, buy a copy of A Game of Thrones, then come back and tell me what you think. Maybe we can do this project together.