Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts

Monday, December 5, 2011

A Game of Thrones


Upon ceaseless recommendations from friends and hearing reviews about the series on HBO, I decided to pick up A Game of Thrones. Upon opening it, I was immersed into the world quite well. However, due to the sheer amount of pages I was only able to start reading this novel, in hopes of finishing it at a time when I will be less busy with school.
The character development is spectacular, as Martin sets aside a chapter to focus on each character perspective of the story. I did get sort of clumsy when it came to transitions of new characters. The importance of family is made apparent in the first few chapters of the book.
One quote that stuck with me was in the first chapter when Bran and his brothers went with his father to execute a man. When he tells his dad how Robb said the man died bravely but Jon said he was afraid and how he replied saying “the only time a man can be brave is when he is afraid.” I thought it was cool how the king’s family accepted Jon Snow into the family. And, his dire wolf pup represents a bastard child, outcast by many, much like Jon himself.
            I am quite interested in completing this novel and watching the television show. I hope to do so over winter break, then, I’ll have to get started on the rest of the series… So many pages!

The Hobbit



I am a big fan of the Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, I have yet to read the books. That being said, it was nice to start with The Hobbit. I began listening to the audio book on Youtube. For however old the recording was, it was actually quite well done. The accompaniment of music in the background added a nice touch to the tone of the story.
            Bilbo Baggins reluctantly accepts a call to adventure from Gandalf and a band of dwarves. He is to burglarize the Dragon’s undeserved treasure from the Lonely Mountain. He goes through a transformation turning from an innocent cautious man living only with what is comfortable to him, into a self-reliant independent person worthy of carrying his own sword.
            Seeing the ring come into play was cool. Mostly because I knew what a major role it would take in the later stories it held. It freaked me out when he fought a giant spider. Screw that. Imagine getting wrapped up in a web by a giant spider. That would ruin your day for sure. Fortunately he was able to escape and slay it. Unfortunately he did not have a giant boot to do the squashing with. Alas, the sword worked fine.