A Game of Thrones

'My first George Martin book was Fevre Dream, from way back in the days when I was just a member of the SFBC. I've still got that book, and I've been searching for more of his stuff ever since. So as soon as A Game of Thrones came into the office, I snapped it up--and wished I could keep reading it forever. I feel like the Starks are my family now, and I even almost like Tyrion Lannister (who's something like a ruthless Miles Vorkosigan). If you love good fantasy, you owe it to yourself to read this book--if only to feel the shiver on your spine when you realize the true importance of the Stark family motto: "Winter is coming.''--Andy Wheeler, associate editor Long ago, when great dragons and wolves roamed the land, the seasons were thrown out of balance, creating a world where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime. Here, in the cold, vast forests of the North, where even summer brings snow, live the Starks of Winterfell, a family as unyielding as the land they were born to, and as fierce as the direwolf which graces their coat of arms. Soon, as winter descends upon the realm, the Starks will be swept up in a blizzard of mystery and tragedy, intrigue and adventure, as they and their rivals play the oldest game of all--the game of thrones.

The sight of the direwolf, dead, with six squirming pups--the same number as his own children--would have troubled a more superstitious man. But Ned Stark did not believe in omens. He believed in a man's duty to his home, his family and his king. And if the King was a good friend, all the better.

But some would deem it inauspicious that Ned's King was on his way to Winterfell that very day, to offer Ned the second most powerful seat in the realm.

It was the last thing in the world he wanted. If he accepted, he would have to journey south to King's Landing and live among vipers. Worse, he would have to leave Winterfell and his beloved family behind...and winter was coming. Still, one did not refuse the King--especially not Robert Barratheon, a bear of a man who preferred a warhammer to a sword in battle.

It would be a decision that would shape the fate of his family.

Eight-year-old Bran Stark loved to climb. Nothing could keep him from scaling the walls and towers of Winterfell like an enthusiastic spider, with just the tips of his fingers and toes to guide him. He would never fall, he had told his father...until the day he climbed the broken watchtower and overheard a conversation no one was meant to hear....

When you were born a dwarf--especially to a family such as the proud, powerful Lannisters of Casterly Rock--you could damn well say and do just about anything you had a mind to. A hobbled little man with a brutish brow and mismatched eyes, Tyrion Lannister knew his limitations, and his strengths. He'd never be a swordsman...but things were expected of him as brother of the Queen.

Set against a landscape as immediate and memorable as its finely-drawn cast of characters, A Game of Thrones is a masterpiece of storytelling that catches you up from the opening pages, grips you until the end, and leaves you yearning for more. (736 pp.)