GAME OF THRONES - By George R. R. Martin (Book Review)
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- Опубліковано 25 бер 2018
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My review of the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, Game of Thrones, By George R. R. Martin
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i think the books can be hilarious sometimes for example the first book where arya's guard ask if she is in the room and she says NO and the guard walks away that shit was hilarious and so unexpected lmao
Eeh.
Exactly, there are tons of comedic moments , alot of it can be macabre (Reek/Theon comes to mind). The jokes and comedic moments come from the characters that we expect them from most of the time (Theon, Littlefinger, Tyrion, Thormunn, Dolores Ed).
@@ranma36 The books are incredibly comedic to me. Littlefinger shitting on Ned and Viserys make me guffaw. "I have his BALLS in the palm of my hands, you see (would that he had any balls)"
Daniel Greene you sweet summer child.
Had to do it sorry :D
The characters are based on the assumption that everyone is capable of great good and great evil and the battle between good and evil is a part of everyone. At this point, most of the point of view character across the 5 books feel really real to me. Even though they may not be characters I like, they really feel alive and make sense, for the most part. You should watch a few interviews of G.R.R.M he talks about character and I think it could help you appreciate (if not like) his approach a little bit more.
Nice video as always ;)
"The characters are based on the assumption that everyone is capable of great good and great evil and the battle between good and evil is a part of everyone"
Joffrey and Ramsey say hello.
@@JohnTCampbell1986 Kids can be evil basterds - have you ever been in a school
Great review, I really enjoyed your discussion. I think people make the mistake of thinking that there are no joyful moment or no happiness in ASOIAF/ Got. But that isn't really the case, there a lot of good moments as well, were characters experience happiness. Like for example when Jon learns that Bran has woken up, it is a small moment, but the story has a few of these, or when we meet the Stark family at the start. However, it has been a while so I can't remember if the first book had a lot of joyful moments, perhaps there are more a bit further in the series. The dark or difficult moments makes you appreciate the good moments more. Although I agree that the books can seem a bit depressing at times.
Out of curiosity, how much of the series have you read? I feel the characters become more well rounded as the series go on.
no, no they dont infact the book series go down they are still alright but the first got books are alot better
@@evn2787 i dont think theyre better just easier reads, i prefer the later books because its showing the shift into the more fantastical elements and some of the stuff in the later books are so damn good. I personally only have a true issue with Arya's chapters cuz i find her less interesting, not to say its bad just doesnt grab me like my favourites like Reek, Davos, Bran, Jaime. The later books are harders to get right into after a storm of swords but its just escalates to great levels.
@@crw1367 Arya was my favorite besides Rob. Her story stalls when she gets to Braavos in my opinion just because it's basically 1 long training arc...but I understand and appreciate the details and and making it feel like she is earning the power and skill she is gaining there. Anyway I definitely agree with you, with as many POV characters as there are in the books I feel like I know how each of the mains would react in almost any situation. That's good characterization!
@@ranma36 I should have clarified, when in westeros I really love the Arya stuff and over time I've come to see the braavos stuff in a better light. Shes a phenomenally written character just not my favourite.
@@crw1367 the later books develop some characters well (Tyrion, Jon, Stannis, etc..) and others seem stuck in mud to a degree (Dany) but it’s a lot of important setup and plot development. A lot of interesting, but not yet developed side characters were introduced too and I think that starts to “overwhelm” some readers for lack of a better term
I think around Bran, there are some really good character moments. You see Jon Snow caring about him, visiting him in his coma despite Cat being there and rejoicing after hearing the news that he's alive even if he's crippled. You see Robb being Robb the brother, not Robb the lord where they both talk about how they miss their family. And Catelyn obviously loves her family, too.
I think this book with the Stark family has probably the most heartfelt moments in the series. Because I'm in your camp, I want to love the characters I read about in books and as a contrast I'd like to have a few warm scenes. And ASoIaF barely has any of that.
He put Bran into bed, covered him with blankets, and blew out the candle. For a time Robb
sat beside him in the dark. Bran wanted to talk to him, but he did not know what to say. “We’ll
find a horse for you, I promise,” Robb whispered at last.
“Are they ever coming back?” Bran asked him.
“Yes,” Robb said with such hope in his voice that Bran knew he was hearing his brother and
not just Robb the Lord. “Mother will be home soon. Maybe we can ride out to meet her when she
comes. Wouldn’t that surprise her, to see you ahorse?” Even in the dark room, Bran could feel his
brother’s smile. “And afterward, we’ll ride north to see the Wall. We won’t even tell Jon we’re
coming, we’ll just be there one day, you and me. It will be an adventure.”
“An adventure,” Bran repeated wistfully. He heard his brother sob. The room was so dark
he could not see the tears on Robb’s face, so he reached out and found his hand. Their fingers
twined together.
This was one of the best scenes from first book.
“Death of a Wheel of Time characters” is somewhat theoretical
**spoiler**
Baaaaasically no one dies. I mean, yes, there were a few heart wrenchers, but when you have 150 some odd POV characters and only 1 main character dies by the end... I mean, I’m glad my “friends” all made it, but man it would have even been more of an impactful ending if more mains had died 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Yes.
Who even died? I just remember the witch being fake dead för 7 books or someshit.
I thought the same for Harry Potter.
Completely agree..... but still, it is very impactful and people still died, you could argue that only one important character died, you wouldn’t be completely wrong but you still have to acknowledge that all the characters have changed forever, which I believe is much more important than them just dying cuz evil man did it.
I would rather see them change and struggle and have to kill them selves mentally so they can achieve their collective goal.
I mean what is more impactful seeing a character gaged and not able to speake or a character able to speake but having to bite their tongue.
@@turtleanton6539 Egwene died but that was literally right at the end of the final book. All the other main characters survived.
Nice review. Makes me want to have enough time on my hands to reread the series.
Excellent video. Nice new mic man!
All I can say about this review is that I’m glad he’s grown and changed his opinions since the time this video came out 😂
I agree with a lot in your review! The dark grittyness is not my favourite type of fantasy either. I agree too about the characters.
I think I'm going to give Game of Thrones another read.
Another great review, thanks!
I guess I'm kinda lucky to be able to grow up on this series, like Potterheads did during the previous decades.
Great review, great channel
As you said you plan on reviewing The Blade Itself next, I was just wondering if and when you plan on doing Deadhouse Gates?
Can't wait for the First Law review
I think a review of The Broken Empire series would be pretty cool. I really enjoyed the series, and I like your reviews. Hopefully, you'll get to it eventually! Thanks for the great content.
I guess D&D saw this and choce to spin the character arcs around. it all makes sense now
The characters in this series are probably the most realistic characters ive ever seen in a fantasy series. Nobody is a purely good or purely evil character. Everbody does good things and bad things. Of course some do the one thing way more over the other. And thats also true in real life. Everybody has the capacity to do good things in there life or do bad things in there life. There are no good or evil guys in this story, everybody is a morally grey character. I really don't get why you say the characters don't feel realistic. I mean if you compare it to other fantasy like for example lotr, everybody in lotr is either a good guy or a bad guy. Think about it, has Aragorn, Gandalf or Sam ever done something evil in the story? No they didnt. Those feel like unrealistic characters because there are only morally good or evil characters in lotr, and in so many other fantasy series. And that is just not true in real life. Nobody is as evil as Sauron in real life and nobody is as purely good as Aragorn. Everybody in real life is a morally grey character and that is also the case in Asoiaf (game of thrones). The reason why so many characters in asoiaf choose to do evil things is because the world is based on midievel history. If you read about midievel history you realize that there were a lot of bad people in those times and thats because life was a lot harder in those times. (Lots of wars, sickness, death by childbirth...). And that is so accurately portrayed in asoiaf and thats why it feels so realistic even if its a fantasy series. So yeah your point about the characters not feeling realistic totally doesnt add up. Maybe youve just read to many fantasys where everybody is a morally good or evil character and youve grow so used to that in fantasy that you think thats realistic. When in reality it really isnt.
Her name is not Khalessi. It’s Danearys. An yes, I will die on this hill dammit. Khalessi is a title, people who call her that are doing the equivalent of calling her ‘queen’.
I love it when you mentioned Pillars of the Earth one of my favorite book of all time
Cannot wait for the blade itself review! :O
Markys Hogg starting the book right...... wait for it.....almost......NOW!
Woo Hooo! no idea what you will think of it though. I hope you like it! :) don't reply, read!! ;)
Can't wait to hear your opinions on the first law! Starting it today myself because of this channel.
Boy were you wrong about Dany’s arc being predictable.
Hey, I'm fairly new to your channel and I've been wondering, do you have Goodreads? Great channel, btw
I was 13 years old back when I read this book...and oh boy did it ruin everything else out there for me. Basically as a result of getting into this series so young made it so basically only the song of ice and fire and the Witcher are series that I still remember and enjoy whereas everything else I've read has been simply forgettable or I dropped completely after the first book because they just couldn't grab me. Now lord of the rings is basically just it's own entity,so there's no need to even mention it,ofc I love it. But what I mean is that I don't remember stuff like Deltora quest because it was great,I remember it simply because that was the series I finished right before reading Game of Thrones and everything just changed.
Same for me as well! I love Asoiaf.
Try The Second Apocalypse by R. Scott Bakker.
I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, but you did say leaving a comment helps you out, so don’t be too annoyed. You should check out Mistborn: Secret History, short read, but I think it’s worth a video.
litlmonkeybro101 it’s on the list :)
"Genitals are very important here"
as the Heading for your audible review.
Completely agree with your opinion on the tone!
Great review. I actually enjoy the books more than the TV series (which I also liked). I appreciate Martin's approach to the genre, bringing a healthy dose of cynicism and maybe medieval realism into the mix. It actually does at times feel more like historical fiction than Fantasy. And I also find he is particularly easy to read and you hardly notice you've read a doorstopper of 800+ Pages.
That being said, I also prefer the more hopeful and sweeping fantasy stories of chiefest among them Tolkien. I'm about to start The Eye if the World and I haven't watched the Wheel of Time TV series, so I'm really curious how that turns out.
Peace out
You're not lying about the easy to read part. On my Kindle, it's 956 pages, and I only started reading a day ago and I'm already on page 200. I don't normally read that fast LOL
I agree with everything you said about it. Also can't wait for your First Law review but not for the reasons most are ;)
+Daniel Greene I'm not sure if you've read all of the books in ASOIAF yet or only A GOT. If you've only read GOT and wanted to do the review free from the influence of the whole series for the sake of those who haven't read them all i get it but.... if you've read them all i don't get why you feel the characters weren't really having a strong influence on you. I started reading the books in 2003/2004 and found so many of the characters so memorable i continued to live with them (if u know what i mean) to this day. as the books progress i found their growth to be in many cases quite unpredictable and although disagreeable the way they're written made even the most awful actions understandable, especially when remembering the medieval setting of psychopathic royals, their sycophants, life expectancy somewhat lower than today and add in a civil war, betrayals, the death of kings and to top it all... Book Cersei Lannister (Crayyy zeeeh!)
but i digress.
here's my question for you.
being a few years older than when you first read the books you've had a few years to experience more, develop more maybe see the world slightly differently now than before, have the books affected you in some other way than before?
and if so how?
Peace brotha
Have you considered starting your own subreddit? You seem to have a very active sub base and it could be a cool place to talk about what you're reading next and have more in depth conversations, plus people could talk about WoT/Sanderson/Other series you review on this channel.
Could you review the witcher saga sometime i read the first one a while back and thought it was class, but you have more refined tastes so id like to see a pros opinion.
Will you so the witcher saga? The first one might be a little slow but by the second it picks up and keeps you interested
The First Law is a trilogy. It also has three stand alone books that follow it (that I kind of like even more than the trilogy).
I really want to watch some of your wheel of time videos, but I only just finished book 3 and dont want to ruin anything. Anyways I'll keep an eye on your channel, stay cool.
I think your description of predictable characters is one of the reasons I really ended up enjoying Sansa's arc back when I first read it. She isn't the strongest character at first, but I felt her development was more subtle than everyone else's in a way that was very refreshing.
The death's in ASoIaF rely more on the shock value of who and when it is than on strong emotional attachments to the characters. It works with the tone of the books, but I've never really felt upset when a character in one of his books dies the same way I have with some other authors, like Brandon Sanderson.
I think enjoying the tone or not has nothing to do with maturity as is just a personal preference. I happen to enjoy darker books, but not enjoying them doesn't make you immature or mean you still need to grow up. It just means you prefer something different.
i disagree with u, you shape it like all deaths in ASOIAF are for the shock value thats not true not....wuan bitttt that maybe true for some minor characters but red wedding? is for shock value? i have to disagree with u delete ur comment before more people think all deaths in ASOIAF are for ''SHOCK VALUE''
Wait you had no emotional attachment to Ned, Cat, Rob, Geore, drogo or Oberyn?
Name of mic ? Nice content
Comment... good work Dan.
Thought you were going to say "read by Roy dotrice"
I have to ask, how much of the "character predictability" is due to having seen the show already though? (Assuming you saw the show before reading). I was a bigger fan of the book's style than you, but I still appreciate hearing your opinion!
Avarice176 read before I watched first read through years ago.
Fair enough then! I guess I can kind of see what you mean, now that I think about it. When I read, I think the other aspects of the book were much more compelling so I didn't give that much thought. I was more wrapped up in the world building, the politics, grittiness etc.
Keep up the good work Daniel
I really love the series. It's my favourite. Ever. But I do understand your criticism and would agree that some parts of the story telling simply aren't for everyone. This has nothing to do with maturity because if you aren't mature enough than I'm...very clearly not...
What is your mic?
looking forward to your opinion on the first law.
I enjoy the " weird" parts. I've seen at least three times characters in the books see "the biggest teats they had ever seen". Men think about tits all the time, fuck I think about tits all the time. Remember that we see things through the characters' eyes and sometimes they focus on weird things, it just makes them feel more real.
I peep the Daredevil poster and love it.
Your comments about the tone are actually very true and I didn’t realise it. Having read Sansa’s chapter from Winds of Winter, which is generally just a joyful dance, I felt really happy which I realised I had never felt before in asoiaf.
the way dany calls herself as the dragon and her talking about the red door the childhood .she is on her way there buddy.signs of the great tragedy that she will be .George has developed the Westeros as the main character and it's politics who has two villians the one in the north other one in essos.
Good review my dude, I agree. I like the first book of the First Law series but the second one turned me off and I stopped reading it.
Im hyped
I realize that you are reviewing only the first book but you are kind levying some arguments at the series as a whole that I take slight issue with. Also I get that “tone” is a rather ambiguous term so I apologize if we are discussing different things. I understand the aspect of not enjoying the tone in ASoIF as much as other series like WoT or Sanderson’s series. I agree that it’s great to have an awesome time with a character as well as see them go through struggle. My issue is that you are kind of ignoring the parts that actually do this in ASoIF. Tyrion has numerous chapters throughout the entire series that could be described as downright mirthful, especially some of his antics with Bronn. I’m not saying he’s a “happy” character necessarily but there are certainly many light-hearted scenes with Tyrion especially with a certain MILD SPOILER lover of his. Which makes the tragedies that follow the character all the more interesting.
For that matter much of the courtroom banter and scheming is rather fun, especially when it involves Tyrion, Varys, or Littlefinger verbally sparring or tossing insults.
The same could be said for many interactions between Jon/Sam and the gang at the Wall that have light moments.
MILD SPOILER:
One of the biggest relationships you are ignoring is Brienne/Jaime which has some incredibly tender and even blissful moments before some heart wrenching stuff goes down between them making it tragic in just the way you described your preference toward fantasy. I will note that this is done much better in the book than the show though.
All that said I would never claim ASoIF is a happy series or has the balance you are looking for. But there are quite a few moments that are much lighter on the page than they are depicted in the show... at least until you are blindsided and those moments are darkened by a tragedy. It’s just that many people tend to gloss over the lighter stuff in ASoIF because there are so many scenes of characters being killed or devastated in some manner.
hello comment readers help me here.
Atm I'm reading my first fantasy book that is LOTR and tbh I'm struggling with it.
So my question here is, ' Is ASOIAF an easy read as compared to LOTR? '
First Law!!!! Nicomo Cosca and Logan Nine-Fingers!!!!
Here, have a comment.
P.S. good video.
Comment Comment. Praise the Google Algorithm to raise this video to its rightful place. Comment Comment.
Hiren Patel comment comment? Comment!!! YOU SON OF A COMMENT!
Hiren Patel Happy to see a fellow Indian fantasy nerd here !
Gonna give ASOIAF a reread!
Future Daniel Greene: “guys it’s fleshed out”
Daniel Greene: “Flushed out”
Why you calling her Khalessi tho?
As an avid fantasy reader, is GOT worth reading?
Martin: Describes gentiles
Jordan: Describes women clothing
Deadhouse Gates???
Just did a whole series reread/listen on audible. I disagree with you about the characters... I think they are some of the deepest most well written in the genre..l
i've just fallen in love with you a little bit. good opinion
A lot of the character deaths in GoT come as non POV characters. So I can see the lack of investment in them.
(SPOILERS)
Renly and Tywin hurt the most :(
1:54 wanna say something now?
GOAT
I do think enjoying the tone of this series has to do with maturity, but not like "emotional" maturity or anything. More like "political" maturity and an understanding of how the World really works.
Daniel is goat
Commenting for comment x
Well I never predicted Danny's gonna be a shitty ruler at book 5 and Greyjoys and Martels are gonna be a key player. Just be patient it will be good.
She's the best ruler on the show.
@Leon Russell I stand by what I said. Two hacks are not going to change my mind about that. Besides, GRRM has said that his ending for all the characters are different from what the show gave.
She wasn’t that bad for he age, and she tried all she had to help the common people, and also what she wanted to accomplish was peace, but at the end she realized war felt better
Realism vs. Idealism.
Martin vs. Jordan I would compare the two, because I love and know the two. I'm equally attached to both their characters, because I'm in actual suspense for George's characters, but Robert's are ones slightly risen above human standards.
Mumble Mumble jordans characters are literal gods by the end of that series while the characters in asoiaf always feel like real people.
I do not think in a maturity thing to not like the constant I also being find the constant negativity to be what makes it hard for me to wade through these books. I really do not find it being something I am drawn to and find myself constantly putting the book down. Good fair review I think and I am in your same boat.
Arya stark is the best character
Don't argue with me
I am partial to Tyrion, but Arya is fantastic.
Inquisitor Glokta is the best character! ;)
I totally agree. Anyone who says different is insane.
Joseph LOUS she is amazing but my favorites are Little finger, the hound and Oberyn Martell.
Shes a really good character but so dark.
Comment , also good video.
I think I heard of this before,Have anyone read it
genuine
It IS odd how much time goes into describing genitals when we don’t even know what half of the characters face structures are like...
"The genre's called fantasy, it's meant to be unrealistic, YOU MYOPIC MANATEE!" -Epic Rap Battles of History, J.R.R Tolkien VS George R.R Martin
0:50 Meh, never was able to get into Tolkein. Don't really fancy his writing style and prose. Decent story... bit generic. Albeit, maybe only generic within today's frame of reference. Just never could enjoy the story. The movies are good though
I am the beast character
Predictable??? If you hadn't watched the show there's no way you could've predicted that Ned's head would end up being on a spike.
This and Kingkiller are my all time favorites, however i didn't love Dance of Dragons in ASOIAF, and the Felurian/Ademe chapters in Kingkiller.... What draws me to these type books are suttle clues like Jon's and Kvothes parentage, and Denna's Yillish hair knots she braids from the first time he meets her.
Very fair...now reread Rothfuss...lol
Ernest Schirmer I was going to say the exact same thing!
I agree. I respect the book and the strides it has made in the genre. I however do not like it at all. It is not my thing, its just so dark and like you said i want some happiness in my book somewhere! But I dont blame people for liking it
MrShaiya96 Emphasis on 'FANTASY' but if you feel your media should mirror society then that's cool too.
MrShaiya96 Seriously though no disrespect, I like GRRM but it seems a bit jaded to say something like that when Daniel's channel focuses on fantasy series.
Well that escalated quickly!
MrShaiya96 you know what they say about assuming, it makes an a** out of u and me. Excuse me, but i believe you have zero standing to make an assumption about my character based off of one comment that i do not like ASOIAF.
I didn't read what this person said but why do people have to be so rude and mean. We are talking about books and people get so salty. Goes to show you where people's priorities are. I don't like people with bad work ethics or people that refuse to take care of their kids, not people that don't like a certain book lol... have a wonderful day everyone
I don't understand how people can praise Martin's prose. Martin is a master at many aspects of writing, but his prose is clunky and does not flow well at all.
I love the show and tried to read the book and get into the series, but i found the way he writes so dense and hard to get into, like im bogged down with detail. The different POV's also threw me off and i felt like i lost momentum, although i liked the characters themselves
Popularity often makes a good gauge for how much something sucks
This doesn’t have sense, the most popularity you get, the most people enjoys it
@@Henry-ic1kn Most people are idiots who don't put a lot of thought into why they like what they like and are more likely to like things because other people like them. We see this in music that's made to appeal to teens, as they're the most peer pressure affected demographic. I'm sure you've noticed that this niche is constantly changed every few years as the next generation replaces the old. Actual music has nothing to do with any of this. It's just marketing. Music is first and foremost a craft with the potential to ascend to art, not subjective art. The proof is ubiquitous.
@@clutch1141 I agree with what you have said, but there are also many people who knows what they like and why they like it, as criticizing its depth, character and setting
@@Henry-ic1kn If you mean that some people may like Paganini while others prefer Miles Davis, then sure, it's subjective. That's not to say that there aren't legitimate reasons to like simplistic commercial music. Maybe a Madonna song triggers nostalgia of happier times, or a special occasion. That still doesn't transform Madonna's songs into masterful compositions. I'm not saying it's not ok to like trash, I'm saying to be aware that it is trash. I enjoy McDonald's occasionally, but I would never call it top tier cuisine.I understand that it's trash and accept it as such for what it offers on its own terms.
@@clutch1141 so... do you think everything is trash, I believe you can tell me maybe one series or movie that is good and deserves it’s popularity? And yes it subjective, but not everything is trash, and there are things that really deserves the attention it has, as mcdonalds for example, still is popular, and you can enjoy it, and I don’t care if it’s trash or not, I care in the quality of the product, that’s what matters, so no, it not consists in many popularity to know something is bad, it can be annoying to some, but it doesn’t count as proove that is bad, and I’m not saying every popular product is good, I’m just saying that it’s popularity doesn’t say nothing, you only need to see it’s depth, quality, plot, etc. It can bore, annoy, and you may not like, but that tells, that it’s not your cup of tea, so...
One of the things that makes me dislike a series is if its unfinished, I liked ASOIF, until i realised it was going to end in the middle of the story without any true end to all the arcs. That made me hate it.
9:48
No, the TV show in the later seasons is just bad writing. Straight and simple, the writing is illogical and inconsistent.
This is from the books...
erm achtually, it's 'A Game of Thrones' not ' Game of Thrones' hwahwahwahwahwahwahwhawhahwahwhawhahwa!!!
Lol, worst review i've ever seen. You've read too many fantasy tropes. Martin wrote this book to get rid of those tropes.
bump
Personally I prefer the show
Never finished Dance of Dragon. Don’t know if I’ll ever pick it up again, don’t have any motivation to do so.
I love the asoiaf series my second favourite series of all time but i have to agree the tone is waaaaaaay too dark. It kind of makes me wonder why we should care about saving the world from the others because it seems that humans in planetos kind of deserve to die.
Thanks for video. It is helpful. "I'm in my twenties now..." So Mr. Greene, you are mature, and understand the world now. It's the mileage, not years. Mr. Greene, maybe you might live in your bubble your whole life. I hope you do. See, the trick is, finding out everything you believe is wrong, and still hold firm to your beliefs. I never thought "Game of Thrones" was dark.
comments
Ngl I don’t understand why everyone loves Daenerys in this first book, like I get how it sets up her character but I just found it to be probably my second least favorite section of of book aside from lady catelyn. Though I do love all of it, it was just my least favorite of the greatness