A Game of Thrones
by George R. R. Martin · first published 1996
15% recommend83% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Grounded, realistic-feeling fantasy with a deep, carefully built world and morally gray characters who have real flaws; suits readers who enjoy rich worldbuilding and character-driven epic storytelling.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A Game of Thrones is the inaugural novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic series of fantasy novels crafted by the American author George R. R. Martin. Published on August 1, 1996, this novel introduces readers to the richly detailed world of Westeros and Essos, where political intrigue, power struggles, and magical elements intertwine. The story unfolds through multiple perspectives, each chapter focusing on a different character, allowing readers to experience the narrative from various angles. This complex structure has become a hallmark of Martin's storytelling, immersi
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…the same frequency). Clearly not everybody finds this irritating but I definitely did. I don’t think I had any problems like that with the writing of other fantasy series like Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones. Nor with two other trilogies I read for the first time this year, C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy and The Three‐Body Problem.
on “My experience writing and selling a short story” ↗"A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin: http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553381... GRRM manages to create an alternate world that feels real, where characters have flaws, nothing is black and white,…
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why” ↗…section. A few of scenes from the books take place in London Coffeehouses, which are described much like the linked article. Read these books! It's a bit of a time investment, but IMO it's better than Game of Thrones! Neal Stephenson's attention to historical detail is extraordinary.
on “The Lost World of the London Coffeehouse” ↗…classic. How Ideas Spread - It was decent, I feel like it could be condensed into an infographic after the fact, and hold great value. The Lean Startup - Excellent. Changed the way I do business. A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1 - Great book, wonderful universe. Apparently Martin loves himself a good descriptions of clothes. A Clash of Kings: A song of Ice and Fire, Book 2 - Great book. Diary…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin. Fiction. Fantasy, but not _too_ fantasy; it's almost the same as the world we live in. But Martin is a genius. His world is deep and it seems like he's lived there for years. His…
on “Ask HN: Summer Reading Recommendations?” ↗…something as the old Encyclopedias we used to use. To just fill the hours, I would suggest some nice book, even better good series, like Foundation and Robot Series by Isaac Asimov, A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin etc.. With those I think those 5 weeks will fly..
on “Ask HN: What should I save for offline reading during 5 weeks without Internet?” ↗"Game of Thrones" and its successors, by George R. R. Martin.
on “Ask HN: What were the best fun books you read in 2014?” ↗…Books ruling so shocking; it considered Google's transformation of "we digitized and indexed these books" to be transformative. If you punch the ASOIAF quote into it, Books will reproduce the text of Game of Thrones that had your query: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22We+should+start+b... It's still surreal that this is considered Fair Use, and even defended relatively recently (2013). It's hard to say…
on “Microsoft will assume liability for legal copyright risks of Copilot” ↗If it's any consolation, the (e)book industry is even worse. Try finding A Game of Thrones as an ebook if you live outside the US. It's only been out for 15 years, so I guess I shouldn't expect too much. I had imagined that maybe publishers would like to make money from people attracted by…
on “The music industry finds another way to shoot itself in the foot” ↗…gets way too cute. He's got the descriptive power to be a great writer, but he needs to be a better self editor. Reading this story reminded me of my endurance-slog through the first few chapters of A Game of Thrones. George R. R. Martin is a fantastic storyteller, but he's also a serial adjective abuser. Same thing here. The story almost gets lost in the words. What we gain in postcard moments, we lose in pacing…
on “This Man Moved to a Desert Island to Disappear. Here's What Happened” ↗…twice. No one can ever experience the original, because the context of everyone's experience has changed. Would your perception of Lord of the Rings be the same before and after reading Wheel of Time or Game of Thrones? Would it even be the same before and after the France-U.S.-Vietnam War? Would it have been the same if written before World War 2? When a work is created, the intention of the artist is fixed, but…
on “The Next Chapter” ↗…from decades ago, but not much is produced for broadcast now. Sometimes, you find a “full cast” audiobook, where every character has a different reader; That was my first introduction to both Dune and Game of Thrones
on “We can't get enough of audiobooks” ↗American Gods and A Game of Thrones were some of the most abandoned books in 2019 as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21957798
on “Show HN: Top Fantasy Reads – Fantasy books Reddit is reading” ↗I put in SevenEves (my favour book) by Neal Stephenson and Leviathan Wakes by JSA Corey and the recommendations include: Game of thrones, Bernard Corwell books Isaac Asimov I've read these and I would put them in the same camp as the input books so I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to be doing. Nice idea but, unless I'm missing…
on “Show HN: An anti-book recommendation tool, to help you escape your echo chamber” ↗…quote from King James' Bible Genesis :1-25" with chatgpt. You'll get a verbatim text. You can get the same with things like Moby Dick, but when I typed "Provide the first five sentences of the book A Game Of Thrones" I got: Certainly! Here are the first five sentences from the book "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin: "We should start back," Gared This content may violate our content policy or terms of use.…
on “Microsoft will assume liability for legal copyright risks of Copilot” ↗