Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

These are books 2, 3, and 4 of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The fifth book, A Dance With Dragons is slated to be available 12 July 2011. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival.

Like the first book, A Game of Thrones (I had it wrong on the last post), these books continue the fictional fantasy world. A few more characters are introduced, a few more die. Okay, more than a few die. The 4th book, A Feast for Crows, is a slightly different format. It's quite a monster but it only covers half the characters for a period of time. Reportedly, book 5 will cover the other half of the characters for that time. I am hoping that Martin has at least one more book in him because there wasn't really an ending for the half covered in book 4. I am guessing he will need one more monster book after 5 to finish the whole story line. Who knows, maybe he has a bigger vision than I or maybe he just likes it when authors leave everything hanging (I hope not).

Although these books are big (book 1 694 pages, book 2 708 pages, book 3 976 pages, book 4 704 pages and book 5 is listed at 1040 pages), they are not hard or laborious to read. If it weren't for various sex scenes and all the violence, they often read like young adult fiction - meaning fast.

If you like fantasy and/or medieval-type era fiction I would highly recommend these books.

I couldn't put them down and they kept me from finishing my book club book in time :(. I need to get to work finishing that now so I can tell you all about it.

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

This is the first book in the Game of Thrones series. Book 5 is scheduled to be released 12 July 2011. This is a long awaited book as it has been many years since book 4 was published. Fans of the series have been waiting not patiently. I have all 4 books published so far but I will try to drag out the reading of them in order to not have to wait so long to get book 5.

This book is set in a sort of medieval time but in a fictional world. This is a world where the seasons last for years. Summer has lasted seven years and the saying goes that a long summer brings an even longer winter. Winter is coming and with it comes a dark and cold world where sinister supernatural forces are amassing.

Meanwhile in the world of men, a deadly game of political chess is played. Children are betrothed to link families and gain power and property. Alliances are formed and broken for the benefit of the realm or the person, depending on the person. The seemingly central family, the Starks, come from the land of the north and are hard and unrelenting people bound by honor and the old religion. They must make their way through the political world of the south while protecting themselves and the realm against the forces of the north.

This book was very engaging and entertaining and it's a fast read even though the books are pretty hefty. This is a great fantasy series which is why HBO has picked it up and made it into a TV series. The HBO series seems to be sticking to the book (after 1 episode) with just a few changes. Most notable is that they have made the Stark children a few years older than they were in the book - probably for logistical reasons on finding kids who could actually pull off the intense rolls they needed to play. The one bummer is that the author ends up having to kill off a lot of characters in order to play out his massive game. I was really annoyed about one particular character's death but, really, I couldn't see any way around it in order for the story line to flow where it needs to go.

I highly recommend this book, and the series, just be patient for that 5th book. Book 4 was published in 2004 and the 5th has been a long time coming. According to the author's blog, "it's a monster."

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

This was a fun light novel about love found by two people who had thought they were at the end of their lives.

Major Pettigrew is deeply anachronistic. The story is set in modern times but Major Pettigrew often seems like he is living during the time of World War II or before. He is very particular about duty and honor and manners and the proper way to behave or not to behave. He finds himself liking and then loving a woman whose life is also about duty and honor and the proper way to behave or not to behave but for very different reasons.

The Major's relationship with a shop-keeper of Pakistani descent rocks the boat in the small English village in which they both live. Many of the neighbors are up in arms about the fact that she is Pakistani yet others are more aghast that he would spend time with a shop-keeper.

The book looks at manners and the reasons behind them. It also looks at duty and honor and biases of many types. It paints many shortcomings in a very unbecoming light and even when the biases and prejudices of the Major are laid to bare, you can't but help liking him. He learns so well from his mistakes and does his best to make amends that we should all be like Major Pettigrew.

This was a fun in-between book that only took a couple of days to read. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fast fun romance that doesn't feel like a romance.