The prologue captured me immediately, and I knew I was in for a ride when two of the three players died instantly, and the third died in the beginning of the first chapter. That sent a strong signal that no character was safe. It turns out that even though one death near the end is predictable, there were plenty of surprises along the way.
I must admit that there was a part somewhere in the first 200 pages that felt like it was dragging, and it took a while for me to really get into it, but before I knew it, the book was done.
The book primarily follows the travels of Eddard Stark as he becomes Hand of the King, but there are plenty of other plots and subplots, and this is where the book shines -- the story is amazing, the world building is phenomenal.
The prose itself wasn't very exciting, and often Martin would go on and on, tempting me to skip a couple of paragraphs. Also, for a fantasy book, there wasn't much fantasy. It was like a Robert Jordan book with 95% of fantasy elements removed, leaving a strong extract of politics and preparations of war. In other words, he successfully provided exactly what's promised in the title: a game of thrones. Those who play it win or die.
The book comes to an end when the pages stop -- small stopping places for each of the plots and subplots -- but no real conclusions. It was like "Come on guys. I had to stop somewhere. You're going to read my next book anyway."
I'll get around to it sometime later this year. I hear it gets even better.
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