Stuff you should be reading: The Song of Ice and Fire Series

So you say you’ve got free time over the Holiday break and you don’t know what to do with it? Or else you’re just looking for something new to read? I’ve got a series of books that should keep you busy for awhile. Unless, of course, you end up doing what I did and holing youself up in a room and reading at least one of the books in a single day.

The Song of Ice and Fire is a fantasy series written by George R.R. Martin. While it was originally intended to be a trilogy, it has since been expanded into a seven or eight book cycle. The books are epic, the first one checks in at around 835 page total. The chapters are not numbered, rather they are proceeded by a name indicating who’s point of view the chapter will be told from (told in thrid person limited), meaning that many times you get multiple views of the same event from different perspectives.

The brunt of the story takes place in a medieval England-like setting, the 7 Kingdoms of Westeros. They are split into the North and the South for the most part. The Northern Kingdom ends at The Wall, a great ice wall meant to keep out the Wildling tribes who live in the forests beyond it. The Wall is manned by The Night’s Watch, a group of mostly bastards and criminals who take vows to never drink, marry, or father a child. There’s also sections which take place across the sea, on another continent, involving the banished “rightful” king of Westeros and his sister.

For those of you who think fantasy novels are all Sword and Sorcery, these are the books that prove you wrong. While there are eventual fantasy elements (magic being the biggest one…also fantasy creatures) the books themselves are court intrigue, mostly involving the plots and machinations of the courtly people in Westeros. And of course, the way Martin writes, NO ONE is what they seem. While you may be presented with a handsome prince, a poor bastard-child, a damsal in distress princess or a scarred and evil knight, eventually you find out that Martin provides them all with layers…making them achingly real at times.

And yes, eventually there be dragons.