These are definitely books you want the full 2 months for to read them. They are pretty thick!
This has been kicking around for a while now. HBO is almost finished with casting for the Pilot so this is probably a good time to give it a read.
Politics, intrigue, magic, murder, mayhem, castles…what more can you ask for?
Bumping again!
I am pleased to announce that the January-February GWC book club selection is George R.R. Martin’s award-winning 1996 novel A Game of Thrones.
When you play a game of thrones you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
SPOILERS AHEAD
For further discussion of A Game of Thrones, please join us in the January/February 2010 Book Club thread, found here.
Brilliant. I am a huge fan of this book and the series. I’ve been holding out on doing a re-read until we get a confirmed release date for A Dance With Dragons, but I think I am familiar enough with the material to be able to discuss it anyway
Very excited about this! Hoo-ray!
Im new here, first time i look at the bookclub section. man, these are all amazing books, i didnt think you guys would be reading stuff like this. but im very happy.
Sweet. I recently re-read this (and the following two) so hopefully it’s fresh enough in my mind to discuss it without reading again.
I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts (if you’re like me and this is a first-time read, or if you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve read it, or anywhere in between). I sadly have to wait for the library copy to become available… (imagine that, but I couldn’t find a copy in my (previous) unnamed Southern Hemisphere location)
I struggled to get through this one and that surprised me since I like a lot of books with similar themes. Maybe it was just me and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it. I just picked up the second book, A Clash of Kings, and I can’t put it down I love it so much.
Yay! I got the first three books for Christmas in 2001, just after A Storm of Swords came out, and they’ve become some of my absolute favorites. I reread them every year or two around Christmas ever since then, if time allows.
Does anyone else get this perverse pleasure from introducing someone to the series, then sitting back and waiting for their reactions?
Yes, I am also getting that perverse feeling with a friend of mine who is currently on his first run through BSG. He’s on season 3. He did not like Razor. 
i had the same reaction originally. the first book was okay but kind of dense, and then i got into kings and i was off and running. now i re-read them and i don’t know what my problem was.
There’s a part of me that feels very sorry for GRRM and wants to grant him all the time in the world to write the best darned Dance of Dragons he can. But in reality that part of me is drowned out by the majority which screams “HURRY UP!” every time he writes a blog post about football. 
Absolutely! I love asking first-timers “so…has the crap hit the fan yet?” Inevitably they always say “I think so” and then a few days later they come back and say “OK, now I know what you’re talking about”.
How far is everyone? How many people are actually reading the book for the first time? This is my second or third read. I’m about halfway thru and I forgot how good this book is. Its amazing how much you can hate a character in one chapter and love him/her in the next.
Who is your fav char(just based on book 1, mine has changed again and again thru the rest of the series)?
mine would be:
#1 Danaerys
#2 Jon
#3 Bran
Im not reading it again. I know if I start Ill have to finish the whole series. For me its one of those books/series you cant put down till youre done.
Fave characters:
Arya
Tyrion
I love them every single time. Daenerys also ranks, and surprisingly enough Jaime later in the series. I think I knew what a phenomenal writer Martin was the minute I actually wanted to reach into the book and strangle some of the villains. So often the antagonist has no weight and engenders no more feeling than mild annoyance; this is definitely not the case in A Song of Ice and Fire.
It’ll be the first time for me, but I’m still waiting on a copy