A Game Of Thrones For Beginners - Step By Step

A Game of Thrones: After great success of Game of Thrones series by HBO, many people took interest in the book on which series was based. If you are one of those who wants to find more about this book, it's author, or some general information about other stuff related to this topic, you're at the right place. Here you'll find enough to get you going further into this great fantasy franchise.

George RR Martin: Author of "A Game of Thrones", and, actually, entire series of fantasy books set in the same world. The series is known as "A Song of Ice and Fire", and, up to date, there is five books written, and seven planned, for the entire series. Beside this Martin is well known for his work in the "Wild Cards", anthology of superhero novels set in alternate universe, screenwriting for "A Beauty and the Beast" and "Twilight zone" teleplays and many notable work in the field of fantasy, horror and other genres. Is member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and proclaimed one of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2011 by Time magazine.

A Song of Ice and Fire: After "A Game of Thrones", Martin wrote "A Clash of Kings" ( based on which second season of Game of Thrones is filming), "A Storm of Swords", "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons". Books are written as continuing saga about imagined world of Westeros and Essos, two continents in which all the events take place. Main feature of this world is changing of the seasons - summer lasts for years, but winter can last for generation! As seen in the series, story is told from the point of view of many colorful characters. There are mystical creatures and magic, but in much lesser extent than in classical Epic Fantasy: here surrounding looks more like medieval Europe, than like Middle Earth. This world, unique for Martin, is filled with intrigue, betrayals, sex scenes, in rang with best works of popular literature, and yet managing to write in true fantasy style.

Jon, Tyrion, Cersei and others: Like stated before, books are written as POV from many characters. And Martin excels in portraying them, and making them very lifelike. You will love them, you will hate them, but you definitely won't be indifferent toward them. Actors in the series did great job picturing main characters, but you will find many more of them in the books, and equally entertaining. One thing though, unlike many writers, Martin doesn't have any problem with killing his characters. But don't let that repel you, because it only makes books better and more realistic. And greatly pokes your interest about "who will be next?" :) .

Why Epic Fantasy?: It allows you to "disengage" from this world. To escape into the world that is similar, yet different from our own. Everything that you can find around you is still there, but is happening to someone else, and somewhere else. For your mind that is refreshing change, helping you relax and allow your imagination take over for short while. Just as we enjoyed good fairy tale as children, we can enjoy good Epic Fantasy as adults. And, for me, there is no better fantasy than that which Martin writes.

Any other good books?: Off course! Plenty of fantasy out there, not all in the same league as Martin's, but lot of decent work. To name some: Lord of The Rings - written by J.R.R. Tolkien in late forties, first and until today best known work in fantasy genre, it is truly a classic, a fairy tale for adults and children alike. The Wheel of Time - another great series of Epic Fantasy books, unfortunately their author Robert Jordan died before finishing this series, but it continues under Brandon Sanderson. Harry Potter - this well known series has sort of dual nature in it, first volumes are mainly for children, but last few books are addressing more mature audience, definitely worth a shot. Beside these there are more authors similar to Martin.

For the end: What would I recommend to the newbie to A Game of Thrones world? First is - read the book! Making your own mind about something means that you must familiarize with the topic, what someone likes other may not. But since series is filmed literally by taking scenes from the book, there is great chance you will like it if you liked watching it on TV. Also if you decide to continue reading trough the rest of books in series, you can compare with next seasons on TV. Also you may want to check my site dedicated to the George RR Martin, it was build hawing in mind people which are interested in basic information about books, TV series, author and other things connected to A Game of Thrones and George RR Martin.