Song of Fire and Ice Book I A GAME OF THRONES by George R.R. Martin A. B. B. “....we hold to the belief that the man who passes “But they have the soft hearts of women. So “....we hold to the belief that the man who passes the “My“My mother mother bids bids me me let letLord Lord Eddard Eddard take takethe black, the “But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I The most 292,651 Words the sentence should swing the sword. If you long as I am your king, treason shall never go There’s no The Tragedy of sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a andblack, Lady and Sansa Lady has Sansa begged has mercy begged for hermercy father.” for am your king, treason shall never go unpunished. Ser such thing By weight, sympatheticThe most would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look There’s no 73 Chapters man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and her father.” Ilyn,unpunished. bring me Serhis head!”Ilyn, bring me his head!” as a happy charactersympathetic is, in into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you For me, Arya such thing it’s Ned’s character is, 8 POV Characters hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, Martin temps us. Yeah, he could take the black. It’d be has theFor me,most Mother’sas a happy story,By weight, but many ways,in many the Ned Stark, cannotthen perhaps bear theto do man that, does then not perhapsdeserve to the die.” man so cool.. He and Jon and his son Jon Snow taking the When Ned dies, Martin tells us, in no uncertain terms. Arya has the DayMother’s in it’s Ned’s mostways, deeply the When Ned dies, Martin tells us, in no uncertain powermost per power Day in juststory, but does not deserve to die.” black,Martin but temps no. There’s us. Yeah, the way he could you want take things the black. to be that this is not a happy ending, fairy tale kind of most deeplyflawed. terms. that this is not a happy ending, fairy tale word.per word. Westeros.Westeros. barely.just barely. flawed. It’d be so cool.. He and Jon and his son Jon Snow fantasy. Good guys don’t win. This is the other defining moment of the book. Ned is and there’s the way it is. Game of Thrones is about how kind of fantasy. Good guys don’t win. Man of Honor Thethe guydefining who should moment be the of hero.the book The guyis when who put’sNed isit all ittaking is. the black, but no. There’s the way you putright. to But the this sword. isn’t Ned.that kind is the of guystory. who should be want things to be and there’s the way it is. Game the hero. The guy who put’s it all right. But this of Thrones is about how it is. With eight different points of view, it might be easier to see this book as less of a novel isn’t that kind of story. and more as interlocking novellas. The sheer hugelitude* of it makes it difficult to come to grips with, but here are the story arcs for each major character. A. C. D. E. F. I. B. G. H. J. Bran wants to be powerful and a Catelyn = Cassandra Arya wants to be a warrior. TheWhere whole the bookbook gets in a it’s phrase. title Sansa gets her prince Tyrion tries to redeem himself Jon Snow becomes Danerys, Mother of Dragons power for good. with is his father but realizes his own man. A. Bran was going to be a knight She sees the whole damn thing D. “I don’t want to be a lady!” Arya flared. F. “The High Septon once told me that as we but, he turns out to be a H. That was when he knew. You Mormont says the sanest From utter powerlessness, to power due to her himself someday, one of the coming and is powerless to sin, so do we suffer. If that’s true, Lord father-killing monster. Turns have given him up for lost, he thing in the whole damn husband, to magical power, Danerys’ story has the most As cute as the lessons with the Dancing Master Kingsguard. Old Nan said they were stop it. A mother who can’t Eddard, tell me… why is it always the out this is not a world where it thought. You bloody bastard, book to get Jon to stay. epic swings in the book. are, they come at terrible price. She must now the finest swords in all the realm." hold her family together. innocents who suffer most, when you high pays to be a stupidly romantic you think Jaime’s good as dead, fight to survive. And it’s not fun. The other two pulled away from her breasts and C. “You knew the man,” she said. lords play your game of thrones?” girl. so I’m all you have left. Tyrion I. “Gods save us, boy, you’re J. By the end of the book, he has lost his wanted to slap him, to spit in not blind and you’re not added their voices to the call, translucent wings “The king is a stranger to E. Needle went through his leather jerkin and the Varys talking to Ned. She drew the curtains around physical power, but has a strange G. his face, to draw his dagger stupid. When dead men unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in you.” Catelyn remembered the white flesh of his belly and came out between her bed, slept, woke weeping, mystical power. and cut the heart out of him come hunting in the night, hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music direwolf dead in the snow, the his shoulder blades... and slept again. of dragons. broken antler lodged deep in When she took it out, he died. and see if it was made of old do you think it matters who her throat. hard gold, the way the sits the Iron Throne?” The way her magic is handled gives the conclusion of smallfolks said. her story in this book tremendous impact. And it would have been so easy to overdo it. .