12x12: A Game of Thrones

A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One: A Game of Thrones

by George R.R. Martin

After two years of reading this book, I am FINALLY done! I don't know if you've heard, but it's really, really hard to find time to read for fun in law school. After I posted about my plan for 12x12, I got a lot of comments from my classmates that they have no idea how I'm going to do it - Who has time to read for fun?! We got assigned 30 pages of Property homework as well as writing a paper for Legal Writing, and that's just what's due tomorrow!

Well, it helped that I had already read a sizeable chunk before this year. I started reading this again last year, so by the time I started this in 2014, I was just over halfway finished!

It also helps that the chapters are short ("It's only 8 pages, I can read this chapter tonight!"), and each chapter is from a different character's point of view ("UGH YES I LOVE DANY"). It helps to keep me interested. My battle plan with this book was to try and read each night, even if only one chapter.

What I Loved:

• Short chapters
• Sooo much like the show! (I now have a deep respect for the show-makers - they stayed pretty damn true to the book, even with chapter breaks as scene breaks)
• Great writing
• Great character development
• So many seemingly details that *aren't* in the show - Did you know that Rheagar Targaryen abducted and raped Lyanna Stark? And that Sansa was the one who told Cersi Lannister that her father was sending her and Arya back to Winterfell, which is what sparked the whole massacre thing at King's Landing?
• It's a nerd girl's dream!

What I Wasn't Crazy About:

• I have to go buy like 10 more books now to see what happens. Ugh, it's like Harry Potter all over again! ;)

Would I Recommend This?

• Absolutely! If you like or love the show, you will LOVE this book! It has such great literary value, but more than that, it's just a really wonderful story and keeps you interested. Whenever I made myself read at night when I was exhausted ("Just one chapter, then you can sleep..."), I always wanted to keep reading. Most of the time my body wouldn't let me, like my eyes couldn't focus anymore, but I still wanted to!

Have you ever read the series? Do you love the show?