George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones 5-Book Boxed Set (Song of Ice and Fire Series)

An amazing book series for an amazing price. I always see them for hundreds of dollars, but the price I got these for was worth it. The quality is great, not too big and not too small. The casing is perfect for travels or when packing up, and the individual books are great for just taking out on a hike to read at stops, or on road trips.

"Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice." “Fire and Ice” Robert Frost, 1920 George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the story that we need to heed right now. Yes, this is a series with all of the trappings of high fantasy: including knights, fair maidens, sorcerers, giants, and dragons. But unlike most works of the genre, the tropes don’t allow a satisfying escape from the frustrations of the modern world. Instead, they help readers explore character motivations, cultural norms, and political predicaments that speak to our own experiences in life. Martin is well read in history, and many details in his books are inspired by real events and peoples from the Middle Ages. Despite his attention to detail, reenactment is not what motivates him to tell his tale. When discussing his priorities as an author, Martin has repeatedly paraphrased Faulkner, saying: “the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.” Indeed, the characters of the story are often challenged by wrenching moral dilemmas, and the choices they make have powerful consequences for their lives and the lives of others. The historical details are a means to teach us about ourselves, and about humanity at large. Accordingly, the conflicts of the story are not just internal. War and political skirmishes feature prominently in A Song of Ice and Fire, as they have in human history. Martin has cited Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” as an inspiration for his series, and its vision of destruction at the hands of human passion and cruelty epitomizes the challenges faced by the people of Westeros and Essos. Martin himself is a conscientious objector who considers most of the wars of history to have been unnecessary and disastrous ventures. His pacifism is not absolute (he has stated that some wars are necessary, such as World War II), but he nevertheless thinks it is important to consider very carefully the costs of war, without minimizing the spectacular power that military pageantry can have on a people. The titular “ice” and “fire” subtly evoke our collective capacity for rage and desolation, but more obviously they serve as the framing supernatural conceits of the series. Like in many horror stories, the people of Martin’s otherwise realistic setting are caught unawares as inexplicable forces awaken to encroach upon their safety and normalcy. Unlike most horror stories, though, this supernatural presence enters in the midst of heated squabbles, betrayals, atrocities, revolutions, and escalating warfare across the human world. The question that the series lays down is: can we ultimately look beyond our deep grievances and band together against the forces that threaten us all, before it is too late? The central threat is introduced at the very beginning of the story: a mysterious race of beings slowly moving from the permanently frozen lands of the North into Westeros and beyond. Unlike the buggers of Ender’s Game, these are not misunderstood victims of a prejudiced perspective; these are inscrutable, cruel beings capable of extinguishing all life and warmth from the earth. Yet for most of the chapters of Martin’s novels, “the Others” remain but an ominous suggestion, blithely dismissed as a story until it is too late. As this doom approaches, supernatural forces are stirred throughout the lands, allowing certain individuals to foresee future events, to inhabit the bodies of other beasts, to raise the dead, and (representing fire) to awaken living dragons. The people of Westeros and Essos react to these phenomena much as we would react to them: with disbelief, horror, or with religious awe. Yet these spectacular forces do not help any characters in their quest to save themselves from the coming apocalypse—in many cases, they introduce more problems for those who wield them than they do solutions. What can ultimately save the human race from complete obliteration is not any mystical power or prophecy, but a moral vision to unite disparate peoples against the forces that threaten stability from within and without, and the courage to act upon that vision. This is the central human challenge. Given the enormity of this challenge, the scope of the story is necessarily massive. Martin has an extraordinary gift for portraying how factions converge and clash, and how societal and ecological factors shift and interact over time to create a roiling stew of chaotic cultural systems. But, importantly, the feel of “A Song of Ice and Fire” is intimate rather than omniscient. Each chapter provides events from only one character’s perspective, in a tightly limited third person style. From each point of view, internal thoughts are explored, as are memories, dreams, and visions. Martin uses this grand mosaic of subjective snapshots to establish how well-meaning people can end up committing terrible deeds (knowingly or not), how information is easily distorted, ignored, or used to feed competing moral narratives; how the present is haunted by the past; and how the personal realm feeds the political. The ruminative, reflective approach lends a sense of tragedy to the cataclysmic events of the story, rather than simple sensational drama. And, of course, the richly realized lived experiences of these characters often challenge the cliches of epic fantasy and hero narratives. Such subversions are not for the sake of postmodern cynicism, however, but instead to highlight what Martin thinks we humans should be lauding as heroic in a world as epically complicated as our own. The struggles of life can be bleak, confusing, and seemingly without end. Those who persevere in the face of crushing adversity or numb uncertainty are not always rewarded for their actions, but their efforts are important all the same. A Song of Ice & Fire is a poignant hymn of praise to the brave souls who have looked past their everyday human struggles of pride or power and fought for something far more precious. Life. Hope. Stability. A viable future for the coming generations. Also: love. And compassion. And kindness. The TV adaptation never really gets into that.

I really wish they would call these "A Song of Ice and Fire" but besides that, I cannot say too much bad about these books. For the readers of this review. I am not going to go into much if any book detail, I am simply going to explain who might like the books and why you might want to read them, along with some of the challenges. Firstly these are long books, everyone of them. They are not for somebody looking for a 250 page novella or novel, and they are not great stand-alone books. As a series they introduce, and remove, dozens of characters and plot lines. It is actually kind of amazing at how Martin was able to weave so much of this together. If you read the first book, you will undoubtedly need to read the second which leads to the 3rd and so on, they are that good. To go with the length, the pacing needs to also be talked about. I feel that the books are pretty well paced. They are not overflowing with boundless amounts of action, but there is enough to keep you interested if that is what you are looking for. Political intrigue runs deep and takes up huge chunks of the story line, which is really what makes things so interesting. The plans behind plans, behind plans, behind plans are what these books are really about. Yes the action is there and pretty realistic most of the time, but the politics and social and cultural world that Martin has created is what sucks you in. This is truly a fully-fleshed series, that although it has some cookie-cutter pieces (middle-aged, swords and dragons, magic) it really does not depend on that nor does it really use that as its identity. The identity of this book is real human emotions based on real human decisions and the realities of the world we live in and that Martin created. He did not have to dream up some mythical world that, by its sheer existence is awe-inspiring. He did it by just simply showing what humans are capable of in a pretty familiar setting that just works with the books. One major challenge is keeping certain characters straight. You start to kind of realize who the major players are, but more than once I would almost need a memory jog on who somebody was or why they were significant to the story. It can be overcome, but there are many many many characters, some minor, some like a medium-minor, some important, and others very key to the story. If you keeps these straight though, it is worth it. He has some magic but it is more of an undertone really, and has not played much of a part through the 1st 5 books. It is there and may eventually play a bigger role, but up to now it has been minor in most cases (few exceptions). I would recommend this book to somebody who really wants to dive into something deep and immerse themselves in the world Martin created. It will suck up many hours of your time and you will hate that you have to wait for the final 2 books, but when it is all said and done you will be happy you read them. I loved reading these in the winter, especially scenes beyond the wall and in Winterfell. That almost made me lose myself in the story more to be physically surrounded by snow and reading about it in the book. As an aside I think the tv show is very good as well and really does a pretty good job of capturing most elements of the book. I would say though, that even if you watch the show before reading the books, you will still get a great experience from each book.

Considering that this is one of the most well-known series right now, and it has a fan base of several million people (between the books and the show), one more praise will hardly matter. HOWEVER I couldn't help myself, this series transcends all other epic fantasies, and even though it is an ongoing project (Martin confirmed at least two additional books to add to this count of five, bringing the total to 7+) and you will absolutely dread waiting for the next books, this is an experience you do not want to miss. Rarely have I read books in which the characters actually feel real and tangible, as if they are right next to you and you are accompanying them on their adventures. Even though our lives differ drastically from the lives of those in these books, they will feel like friends to you that you have known for years. From the very beginning, with the introduction of the Stark family, you will be emotionally attached to these characters and feel withdrawn when you do not read about them for a while. Even the minor characters have backstories and feel alive to you. The thing that makes this series the true definition of an epic is the amount of time and effort put into making it actually make sense. Timelines and family trees were established, an entire HISTORY was made for the purpose of these books, and a lot of it was based on real events. Martin was inspired by Hadrian's Wall, medieval England, the War of the Roses, the many Kings and Queens of England, and events and rumors within and about their lives. It's still astonishing to me how truly alive this series is, and I know that I will personally be anticipating the release of books six and seven (and hopefully eight and nine and infinity; I never want this series to end). Stop rushing Martin, Rome wasn't built in a day, and Westeros wasn't built in a mere 18 years (book one released almost 20 years ago, gosh). ----------------------------- The Kindle version of this series is decent, I personally didn't mind reading all five books as if it were one super-large 5,000 page book. I use the Kindle Paperwhite, and at the bottom I usually keep displayed the percentage through book, and the time left in chapter, but it wasn't discouraging to read for two hours and only be another 1%-ish through the 'book'. Some people may find it annoying to read an entire book and find that you're only '20% done', but it just didn't bother me. On my Paperwhite, it was difficult to skip to the appendix (with the character guide) and the maps, just because of the short amount of lag in the huge file, so I often didn't use the guides once I switched to the Kindle version of the book. I would instead just google names or places I couldn't remember, it was a lot easier. ----------------------------- **I would also recommend reading The Kingkiller Chronicle, by Patrick Rothfuss, it's another favorite fantasy series of mine!**

Book series is completely captivating/ fantastic/ gripping/ etc, etc, etc. Minus 1 star because the book binding is poor (I purchased softcover fyi) and pages lift out as you read. Please know I write this as a gentle, gentle reader. For example, I am finishing the 5th volume as I write this and not one of the covers are so much as bent or creased. Regardless none of the books will allow a second reading due to the binding issue. Sad. The series is one of the best / if not the best that I've ever read.

I have been watching "Game of Thrones" for a couple of years and I find the HBO added sex repelling but the GOT story compelling. Unfortunately there are so many characters that my husband and I have trouble following all the plot lines. I have over 2000 Kindle books in my archives and most of them were free. As I have said before, you get what you pay for, and most of them weren't worth the effort it took to download them. So I decided to splurge and get this set of books to see if I could figure out what is happening in the Game Of Thrones. I read these books daily, often into the early morning, and it took me three weeks to get through them all. I had read criticism of book four, that readers were unhappy with the introduction of new characters that did not move the story along, so I skipped it and read book five. Then after my mind had rested a few days (and I was going through GOT withdrawal) I went back and read book four and found it to be very good and found it added a lot to the story. I had missed some of the GOT episodes from last year and was catching up on them to get ready for the new season. Now the show makes so much more sense. There were things that the HBO series has to leave out that are emphasized in the books that really add depth to the story. For example, in the book Dany is constantly reminded of the prediction the maige made that she would never have children so the slaves she has freed that call her Mother are her children that she could never have. This makes the story so much more poingnant and helps explain why she is so determined to free all the slaves. I love being able to share these little tidbits with my husband. Sometimes I can even explain the family relationships and why certain groups hate each other! Wow! A wonderful companion book is one that was free on Kindle about a month ago. "Winning the Game of Thrones: The Host of Characters and Their Agendas" by Vallerie Estelle Frankel is very helpful in understanding the Song of Ice and Fire books. She goes into mythology and some history to help explain how Mr. Martin has developed his series. She also explains how he has incorporated bits of his favorite books and homages to his favorite authors into the series. George R. R. Martin has created a masterpiece. I can hardly wait for the rest of the series and will snatch them up the minute they are published. The books are so much better than the TV show and the TV show is pretty darn good. The books would definitely be R rated, have lots of sex, some creepy sex and a little down right perversion, but they are still less shocking than the HBO series. Maybe it because I can't picture some of the stuff like the TV show can actually portray. When I read someone's head is chopped off I don't actually see the blood spatter and squirt. The TV series just skims the top of the story in the books, condenses characters, changes time lines somewhat, and leaves some parts of the books out all together. To get the whole story of the game of thrones you need to read the books.

I'm a big fan of series books, and this is among the best I've ever read. While some have cited a slow pace or an overly descriptive style as being faults, I disagree. In fact I think the lengthy descriptions are necessary and serve to help readers recognize which characters belong to the various "factions" and families... and there are a LOT of characters to keep track of. At first it can be a bit daunting to remember who is planning what, or where they're going and why. But through subtle repetition you begin to remember the names and places and it becomes easier to follow the story without having to constantly flip to the appendix or the world map. However this is not a series for the impatient reader. I was still thumbing back and forth on the last book, though much less frequently. I can understand why some readers may not like the interruption of having to do that, but I thoroughly enjoyed the depth and complexity of the world Martin created. While the plot is occasionally foreseeable, mostly it's not. The unexpected twists made me gasp or utter a choice four letter word many times, as if what was happening was real. :) I also had to put the book down during many pivotal moments so I could process what had just happened (or come to terms with it)! I adore fiction like this! When a story can pull me in so completely that my surroundings fade away and I don't even hear my name being called... that scores major points with me. And when a writer can craft characters that make me laugh or grieve or feel hatred toward them to the point that I momentarily forget they're not real people... even better. I have nothing but praise for this series, but I will add that it's not for everyone. If you don't like stories that involve use of a compendium, or if you prefer faster paced novels that tend to skim the surface of things, just move on. But if you enjoy the type of stories that are so massive they seem more like an alternate reality than fiction... you will love these books. They dig deep and span a variety of families, tribes, cultures, regions and events. You'll meet creatures and characters from all walks of life... from the honorable and loyal, to the ambitious and clever, to the violent and stupid, all the way down to the just plain psychotic. As a result the world Martin created feels detailed and absolute. In my very humble opinion, this series is NOT to be missed!

Great experience all around.