Game of Thrones (novel)
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Game of thrones
A Game of Thrones
The cover of the first American edition with the image of the Iron Throne
By George R. R. Martin
Genre: Fantasy
Original language: English
Original published: 1996[1]
Translator: Yu.
R. Sokolov
Publisher: Bantam Spectra
Voyager Books
Issue: August 6, 1996
Pages: ~ 835[2] or 864[3]
Medium: Book
Cycle: A Song of Ice and Fire
Previous: The stories of Dunk and Egg
Next: "Battle of the Kings"
This term has other meanings, see Game of Thrones.
"Game of Thrones "(eng.
A Game of Thrones) is a fantasy novel written by American writer George R. R. Martin, the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series.
The work was first published in 1996 by Bantam Spectra publishing house.
The novel takes place in a fictional universe.
The work focuses on three main storylines — the events preceding the beginning of the dynastic wars for power over the continent of Westeros, reminiscent of Europe during the High Middle Ages; the impending threat of the wildling tribes and the demonic race of Others; as well as the journey of the daughter of the deposed king in attempts to regain the Iron Throne.
The work focuses on three main storylines — the events preceding the beginning of the dynastic wars for power over the continent of Westeros, reminiscent of Europe during the High Middle Ages; the impending threat of the wildling tribes and the demonic race of Others; as well as the journey of the daughter of the deposed king in attempts to regain the Iron Throne.
The narration is conducted from the third person, alternately from the point of view of different characters.
The work on the novel was started by the author in 1991.
At that time, the cycle was conceived as a trilogy.
George R. R. Martin, who tends to write large scale texts, decided to create a large scale epic fantasy in the spirit of the Lord of the Rings, based on historical books and shifting the emphasis from magic to realism.
A special place in the "Game of Thrones" was given to heraldry, chivalry, the description of feasts and clothing.
The book was inspired by real historical events, and the heroes of the cycle had prototypes from among the European nobility.
One of the main messages of the book is the idea that death is the inevitable truth of all life.
The novel received universal acclaim from critics.
It was awarded the Locus Award for the best novel in the fantasy Genre, and was also nominated for the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award.
In addition, the story "Dragon's Blood", which was included in the novel, received the Hugo Award in 1997.
Fifteen years after its publication, the novel reached the first place in The New York Times bestseller list.
The reviewers positively perceived the bold violation of the classical canons of the genre and the destruction of literary stereotypes, the elaboration of characters and an intriguing plot.
In total, more than a million copies of the book were sold.
The novel was adapted as part of the first season of the TV series "Game of Thrones".
Content
1 Plot 1.1 The universe of the book 1.2 The Seven Kingdoms 1.3 The Wall 1.4 Essos
2 Creation 2.1 Writing 2.2 Characters 2.3 Stylistic features and author's plans 2.4 Historical prototypes 2.5 Publication
3 Criticism 3.1 Nominations and awards 3.2 Reviews
4 Adaptations 5 Notes 6 Literature 7 References
Plot[edit / edit wiki text]
The universe of the book[edit / edit wiki text]
The action of the cycle takes place in a fictional world.
The main events of the book are focused on the continent of Westeros, which resembles Europe in terms of economy, culture and social structure during the High Middle Ages, and partly on the more eastern continent called Essos[4], which is distinguished by ethnic and geographical diversity[5]: 146.
The highest nobility of Westeros is usually called the Great Houses[6].
About three hundred years before the events of "Game of Thrones", the Targaryen dynasty, using three dragons, conquered all the lands of Westeros from the Wall to the southern shores of Dorne and created a single empire[7].
The Targaryen family originates from ancient Valyria.
Aegon married his sisters, and this tradition was often observed in their family.
The dynasty began to fade with the death of the last dragons.
The madness of Aerys II gave rise to an uprising that turned out to be successful[6].
The Baratheon family is believed to be descended from a side branch of the Targaryens.
After the overthrow of the Storm King, they became the lords of Storm's End.
Black haired and strong, the Baratheons remained loyal to the ruling dynasty for a long time.
The reason for the confrontation was Robert Baratheon's beloved Lyanna Stark, who was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, the son of Aerys II.
Robert, being the leader of the rebellion, ascended to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms after the victory, but became a useless ruler.
The fair haired Lannisters were the richest of all the Great Houses.
They rule the Western Lands, and their fortress is Beaver Rock.
The head of the family is Lord Tywin.
His eldest son Jaime, who served in the guard of Aerys, killed the former king, for which he received the nickname "Kingslayer" [6].
The Starks are the unchanging lords of the North, whose lineage has not been interrupted for thousands of years[5]:38.
According to legend, their ancestor Brandon the Builder erected a Wall.
Dmitry Zlotnitsky, a reviewer of the World of Fiction, writes: "They are as cold as the lands they rule, as hard as the walls of their ancestral castle of Winterfell, and as dangerous as the direwolves that flaunt their banners."
The Starks differ from other Great Houses in that they worship the Old gods.
It is the representatives of this family that are most widely involved in the plot of the work.
Also, the Starks can be conditionally called positive characters of the book.
The Arryns, Guardians of the East, are one of the oldest families.
Before the Targaryens came, they were the kings of the Mountain and the Valley.
South of the Isthmus, in the central part of Westeros, is the House of Tully.
Their Riverrun castle at the intersection of the three Trident Rivers allows you to control trade in the region.
The Great Houses also include the Tyrells of Highgarden, who also received their lands from the Targaryen conquerors, the Martells of Dorne, who joined the Targaryen power voluntarily, as well as the Greyjoys, a warlike people from the Iron Islands[6].
The Stark House
Winter is coming
House of Lannister
Hear my roar
House of the Baratheons
Us rage
House of Arryn
High as an honor
Tully's House
Family, duty, honor
House Targaryen
Flame and blood
The Seven Kingdoms[edit / edit wiki text]
The Lord of Winterfell and Guardian of the North, Eddard (Ned) Stark, carries out the execution of Gared, a deserter from the Night's Watch.
Returning with their sons Robb and Bran Stark, the bastard Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy, they find six cubs — four males and two females, which coincides with the number and sex of Lord Stark's children and decide to take them for themselves.
King Robert Baratheon and his wife and children arrive in Winterfell.
Robert and Ned, being old friends, in the past rebelled against Aerys II the Mad, overthrowing the ruling Targaryen dynasty[6].
The king offers Ned, who is famous for his honesty and incorruptibility, the position of the hand of the king.
Ned's predecessor, John Arryn, died under mysterious circumstances.
Robert also promises to betroth his son Joffrey to Sansa Stark, Ned's eldest daughter.
On the day of the hunt, Ned's son Bran climbs the old tower and becomes a casual witness to the incest of Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime Lannister, for which the latter throws him off the tower[8].
Bran survives, but his legs are paralyzed.
At the same time, the boy does not remember the events preceding the fall, so it is believed that Bran fell from the tower by accident.
Eddard Stark accepts Robert's offer and, taking his daughters, goes to the capital of Westeros King's Landing.
His wife Catelyn remains with her sons Bran, who is lying unconscious, Rickon and Robb.
The latter becomes the governor of Winterfell for the time of his father's departure.
Jon Snow goes to the north, to the Wall, to become, like Ned Stark's brother Benjen, the brother of the Night's Watch, which he has long dreamed of.
An attempt is made on Bran, but the direwolf saves both him and Catelyn.
When Bran wakes up, he gives him the name Leto.
In his dreams, he saw the heart of the White Wasteland, located far to the North, and the approach of winter.
Since the assassin's dagger was made of Valyrian steel, Catelyn goes to the Harbor to find out who it belonged to.
Petyr Baelish, known as Littlefinger, her longtime boyfriend, reports that it is the property of Tyrion Lannister, the Queen's brother.
Enlisting the support of knights from allied houses, Catelyn takes the dwarf prisoner and takes him to Lisa Arryn, her sister, in the Eagle's Nest a mountain fortress of the East.
Tyrion denies the charge of attempting to kill Bran and demands a trial by duel.
His honor is protected by the mercenary Bronn, who deftly defeats a clumsy knight in heavy armor.
Tyrion and Bronn are reluctantly released, and they leave the Nest.
Jaime Lannister kills Aerys — the work of Michael Komark, one of Martin's most respected illustrators[9]
Arriving in King's Landing, Ned Stark gets into the thick of court plots and intrigues.
Gradually, Ned finds out that Prince Joffrey, Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen were born by Queen Cersei not from her husband, but from her own brother Jaime.
Robert has no legitimate heirs, because all his children were born out of wedlock.
During a secret conversation with Cersei, Ned says that he knows about her connections with Jaime, and suggests that she run away with the children.
Instead, she persuades her cousin Lancel, Robert's squire,to get him drunk while hunting a boar.
Lord Tywin Lannister, the father of Cersei and Jaime, secretly sends Grigor Clegane with troops to plunder the Riverlands in order to lure Stark out and take him prisoner for exchange for Tyrion.
In response to the complaints of the river lords, Ned sentences Grigor Clegane to death in absentia and sends a detachment led by Berik Dondarrion to carry out the execution.
As a result of Cersei's machinations, Robert is mortally wounded in a fight with a boar.
Ned does not have time to tell him the results of his investigation.
The king signs a will in which he appoints Joffrey as the heir, and Eddard as the Lord Protector, after which he dies[6].
Renly Baratheon, the king's younger brother, offers to make a coup at night and capture Robert's children, but Eddard rejects this idea.
In the throne room, Cersei tears up the will and declares Joffrey king, herself his regent, and Eddard Stark a traitor.
The guards of the city of the Golden Cloaks, along with the Lannister people, kill Stark's people and arrange a massacre in the tower of the Hand.
Ned is thrown into prison, and Sansa is taken under house arrest.
Arya, Ned's youngest daughter, manages to escape from the castle and hide in the city.
Joffrey is crowned as the King of Westeros.
Ned agrees to join the brothers of the Night's Watch in exchange for Sansa's safety, but Joffrey orders his head to be cut off. [5]
:94.
Ser Ilyn Payne executes the sentence on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor.
Arya watches this, but the Night's Watch recruiter Yoren takes her away and promises to bring her home.
After learning about the massacre in King's Landing and that a civil war for the throne is planned, Eddard's eldest son Robb Stark gathers an army and goes south.
The regent of Winterfell is appointed the awakened Bran, and his regents are Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik Cassel.
Tyrion's illegal arrest aggravates relations in the state ve between the Lannisters on the one hand and the Starks and Tully on the other.
Troops are beginning to gather at Riverrun and Casterly Rock.
To carry out military operations, Robb agrees to an alliance with House Frey.
He wins the battle in the Whispering Forest over the troops of Jaime Lannister and takes him prisoner[5]: 82, and later lifts the siege from Riverrun, the fortress of Tully.
After Robb refuses an alliance with Robert's brothers, Renly and Stannis, each of whom has their own claims to the throne, the lords of the North and Trident declare him King of the North[5]:52.
Wall[edit / edit wiki text]
On the northern border of the kingdom there is a Wall a huge barrier of ice and stone seven hundred feet high, on which the brothers of the Night Watch serve.
They swore to devote themselves forever to their cause, to renounce titles and family, not to have wives and children, and to defend the Wall until the end of their days[5]:21.
In fact, the Brotherhood protects the Seven Kingdoms from the northern Wildling tribes, an anarchic community that lives by its own laws in the Enchanted Forest north of the Wall.
In the prologue, the three brothers of the Night's Watch Ser Waymar Royce, Gared and Will pursue the wildlings beyond the Wall, but encounter the Others and two of them die.
Gared escapes and crosses the Wall, but is caught and executed by Eddard Stark for desertion.
Jon Snow, Lord Stark's bastard, arrives at the Wall.
He unites the recruits against the harsh mentor of hand — to hand combat and protects the cowardly but good natured Samuel Tarly a novice who was disliked by the other brothers for his heaviness.
There are three classes of brothers in the Watch builders who repair the Wall and the locks of the Watch, stewards who arrange the life of the Watch, as well as scouts who perform various tasks behind the Wall.
John, thanks to his combat skills, expects to become a scout, but he is assigned to the stewards of the lord commander of the Night Watch, Gior Mormont.
Sam, thanks to the efforts of John, becomes a steward and assistant to Maester Aemon, who keeps the library and the ravens.
John's uncle Benjen Stark disappeared over six months ago, going to look for those brothers who died in the prologue.
John and his wolf Ghost find two dead people from Benjen's squad.
They are brought to the Black Castle, but at night they come to life.
One of them tries to kill Mormont, but John destroys him with fire.
When John finds out about the death of his father, he wants to desert to help Robb in his campaign, but his friends catch up with him and persuade him to return.
The next morning, Mormont asks Snow to keep the oath and informs him of plans to go North in large forces to still find Benjen alive or dead, and figure out what Mance the Raider, the "King behind the Wall" — the leader of the Wildlings and the fugitive brother of the Night Watch is up to[10].
Essos[edit / edit wiki text]
Across the Narrow Sea, on the continent of Essos, live the escaped Targaryens, twenty year old Viserys and his thirteen year old sister Daenerys (Dany).
After long wanderings from one city to another, they are at the beginning of the book in Pentos, one of the Free Cities, with the rich magister Illyrio[11].
Hoping to get a large army and return the dynasty to power over Westeros, Viserys gives his sister to Khal Drogo, the leader of the Dothraki nomads[5]:169, the leader of the most powerful of the Khalasars (tribes) in Essos.
At the wedding, among other gifts, Daenerys receives three bejeweled dragon eggs.
Khalasar is joined by Targaryen companion Jorah Mormont, the fugitive lord of Bear Island from the north of Westeros.
Daenerys becomes pregnant by Khal Drogo, her future child is predicted a great fate.
But Viserys cannot achieve the fulfillment of his requirements.
In Veyes Dothrak, the capital of all Dothraki, he goes so far as to directly threaten Khal and his wife, demanding a coronation.
Then Drogo melts the gold and pours it on Viserys, which causes him to die[6].
Later, the merchant makes an attempt on Denis — he gives her a barrel of poisoned wine.
But his deception is revealed thanks to Jorah[5]: 166.
During the southern campaign to the lands of the Lhazarians, or "lamb people", Daenerys saves the healer.
In this raid, Drogo is seriously injured, and he is near death.
The healer promises to save Drogo, saying that he will have to pay for his life with death.
Daenerys agrees, Drogo does not die, but remains in a vegetative state.
Because of the ritual performed, Denis's unborn child dies.
Khalasar is divided into many small groups.
Only a small group of loyal people, including Jorah, remains with Dany.
Daenerys burns Drogo and the healer in a funeral pyre, after which she enters the fire herself.
When the flame goes out, Khalassar discovers a living Dany surrounded by three dragons [6] hatched from eggs.
Creating[edit / edit wiki text]
Writing[edit / edit wiki text]
The writer was inspired by the success of the film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, but any book by Martin exceeded each volume of Tolkien by three times, and films in the cycle would need "not three, but twenty"[5]:5
In the 1980s, George Martin was engaged in writing scripts in Hollywood, but he did not like his work because of the inability to create large scale works.
"From the very first scenarios, I was told: "It's great, but it's too long, too many letters..."
I had to shorten them, so when I returned to the books, I said to myself: "I wonot care about anything like this anymore..."
I wanted thousands of characters, large scale battles, magnificent castles and enfilades — all that I could not afford on television"[4].
Having decided to return to big literature, the writer sent his editor three applications for future works — science fiction, horror and fantasy.
The last of them was approved as more saleable[12].
Work on the novel was started by the author in the summer of 1991[13][8] in the city of Santa Fe[14].
During this period, Martin spent a lot of time on unrealized projects, and if it hadnot been for the fiasco of the TV series "Portals", he would not have started the cycle "A Song of Ice and Fire"[15].
Initially, George assumed that the series would include only three books, but over time he realized that he would have to write six novels, and then the number of planned books increased to seven [16][17].
The initial glimpse of the story was a spontaneous vision in which a boy named Bran witnesses a beheading, and then finds cubs in the snow[8], and the first chapter was typed exactly how the Starks find direwolf puppies[18][19].
At that time, the author was working on the novel "Avalon" [20].
When starting "Game of Thrones", the writer did not know whether it would be a story or something more.
Later, he made an important decision to narrate on behalf of several characters[14].
After finishing the second chapter[20] and writing about a hundred pages[8], the author was forced to postpone work due to his preoccupation with scripts[14].
At some point, after a long description of the plot, the writer realized that he needed to stop and work out the world and its history — draw maps, family trees, designate kings with years of rule and their nicknames[20].
Initially, Martin outlined the order of the chapters, later prescribed the story of each character, then divided it into parts, and then shuffled them to get the optimal location within the novel and achieve maximum tension.
Sometimes, in order not to get confused in the details, the author wrote down the details of the narrative in lists and diagrams, although for the most part he tried to memorize everything.
A peculiar tradition of Martin was the use of" one time " heroes for the prologue and epilogue[21].
He also considered another possible structure of the novel, in which months passed between chapters, not days, which, in his opinion, would radically change the book and allow solving a number of problems[22].
The first version of the manuscript was 1088 pages without appendices[23], although initially the author wanted to fit all the events in 800 pages[24].
Subsequently, the writer moved 300 pages to the second novel - "The Battle of Kings"[25][26].
Characters[edit / edit wiki text]
The novel is presented on behalf of nine heroes[12].
Martin's favorite character is Tyrion[9].
His wit and ambiguity make him attractive.
Bran was the most difficult for the author, since he was the youngest of the main characters and in fact the only one who has magical abilities[21].
The story of Daenerys from the very beginning should have been developed on another continent.
The writer depicted a map of Westeros and decided to develop the action with this character outside of this map, comparing the resulting effect with the imaginary introduction of the chapter about Faramir immediately after Bilbo's birthday in The Lord of the Rings, which would immediately give the reader a different idea of the scale of the narrative[14].
The death of the main characters was partly inspired by the deaths of Gandalf in The Brotherhood of the Ring and Frodo in The Two Fortresses, with the difference that Martin's characters, as a rule, do not resurrect.
It was difficult for the author to kill his heroes, since he treated them like children, although some of them, such as Eddard Stark, "were marked by death from the very beginning."
The death scene of Eddard was written in 1994[19].
The author said: "Valar morgulis.
All mortals must die.
Death is the inevitable truth of all life... and of all stories, too."
With his work, the author wanted to argue with Tolkien's statement that a good person, such as Aragorn, should become a good king.
Ned, as the moral compass of the narrative, the defender who rallies others, is "swept off the board", which makes the narrative more disturbing[8].
The writer didnot want to kill him too quickly — he gave readers time to get attached to him so that this one would rub I became a blow[5]:99.
Martin was inspired to narrate on behalf of various characters by his experience as a journalist.
As a young student, George, overcoming shyness, communicated with eyewitnesses of various incidents, many of whom did not want to answer the questions posed.
This experience contributed to the view of one incident from different points of view[27].
For some time, Martin doubted whether it was worth including dragons in the narrative[8].
He wondered whether they should be alive or remain only symbols[5]: 176.
A friend of the writer Phyllis Eisensteingiep convinced the author that the appearance of dragons is the right decision.
The author considered the fall of Bran to be the first "catchy" scene of the novel.
Both Jaime and Cersei look disgusting at this point in the book.
However, in fact, Jaime makes a difficult choice — through an attempt to kill someone else's child, he wanted to save his own children.
The author compared Cersei to Lady Macbeth.
She sincerely loves her children, but she has a sociopathic view of the world and civilization[8].
Despite the fact that initially the Lannisters look "blacker than black", gradually the reader begins to understand the motives that drive them.
This, in turn, raises the hope that they will change for the better over time[5]:72.
The author believed that his characters are vital enough for readers to identify themselves with some of them, and experience negative emotions for others[28].
Stylistic features and author's plans[edit / edit wiki text]
The chronicles of Froissart, along with other historical books, formed the universe of the cycle[29]
According to the writer, the idea of "Game of Thrones "" came out of nowhere."
Based on childhood memories of Tolkien's work, the author wanted to write a large scale epic fantasy[19].
A special place in the novel is given to heraldry[21].
A lot of text is devoted to the description of food.
According to the author, the episodes enliven landscapes, sounds, and smells.
During a battle, a bed scene and at a banquet, the same techniques apply.
Martin spent a lot of time describing the dishes that his characters eat.
As Martin himself notes, " This background gives the scenes texture, makes them bright and psychologically authentic…
The impressions received through the senses penetrate deep into the very foundations of our consciousness, where it is hardly possible to get to by presenting the plot purely intellectually"[30].
Childhood memories of the harsh winters of Dubuque are reflected in the novel[14].
Martin tried to be honest with the reader, so when showing the war, he described the death of positive characters, because "even good people who are loved die."
The Middle Ages, a time of contrasts, contributed to the reflection of the concept of chivalry, which gave rise to brutal wars.
The same applies to sexuality.
The knightly cult of a beautiful lady with poems dedicated to her and victories in tournaments was side by side with mass rapes after battles.
An example of this was the Hundred Years ' War.
Sexuality is an excellent motivator, which is completely absent in Tolkien's work[21].
The writer believed that fantasy as a genre, even if based on imagination, should reflect the realities of the world in which we live[28].
In response to criticism of the bed scenes, Martin replied that if he was guilty of inappropriate sex, then he was also guilty of "inappropriate cruelty, inappropriate feasts, inappropriate description of clothes and inappropriate heraldry", because all these details do not give anything for the development of the plot[31].
In terms of volume, the novel turned out to be the shortest in comparison with the subsequent parts of the cycle[32].
The technique of frequent repetition of certain favorite phrases was borrowed from Stephen King[33].
In 2015, the publisher
