Game of Thrones

So when my internet was out for a couple of days, I’m been doing some catch-up reading the entire time. I finally got me to finish Game of Thrones. And I say finally because I brought that book with me to my Europe vacation and in the entire month that I was there, I only got to read 3 pages out of the 835. To think, I could have finished the entire thing in one day! 

At first, I thought the plot was too slow. There were so many characters being introduced per chapter, I had to actually read the appendix at the back of the novel to familiarize myself. Safe to say, I’m glad I stayed in for the journey because the entire novel is fucking awesome. It’s so brilliantly crafted that it kept me at the edge of my seat (or in this case, bed) the entire time. I swear, you think you know what’s going to happen, and then you find out a second later, you’re guess is like a million miles away! Oh man… It was good… real good. 

I guess another reason why I love the story so much is how it reminds me of a certain video game whose plot, setting, and characters are eerily familiar with Game of Thrones. I’m talking about Dragon Age or more importantly, Dragon Age II. There were several instances while I was reading the book that made me stop and momentarily think of Dragon Age II. That’s a good thing though. I regard the Dragon Age series as one of my favorite series of all time and even though the sequel was a bit disappointment in gameplay, its intricate and compelling narrative will always hold a special place in my heart. 

So when all the holy-fucking-I-didn’t-see-those-acts-of-betrayal-coming surface in Game of Thrones, I couldn’t help but think of the countless acts of betrayal in DA2: Bartrand’s desertion, Isabella’s backstabbing, Anders’ maleficent act of destruction… Sweet Jesus… The way DA2 kept me guessing as to what will happen, Game of Thrones did as well… perhaps, even better. I don’t want to spoil any of the major plots, but my god was it fantastic. 

The characters are also a part of my huge adoration for the book. The Stark family reminded me so much of the Hawke family that when a particular someone died in the end of the novel, I literally screamed profanities out loud. It brought me back to Hawke’s mother being murdered and transmogrified into a soulless corpse, which has got to be the most spine tingling part of the story. It was that powerful… and Game of Thrones managed to pick that one up as well.

I even managed to relate the Khol to the Qunari… Imagine that.

Lord Ned Stark and his journey through King’s Landing amidst all the trouble in his family and his own brought me back to when I was playing Hawke and his tribulations in DA2. You start of a poor peasant, but quickly maneuver yourself to be an upstanding and influential citizen by the second half of the game. By this time, all of your actions and deeds regarding the turmoil in the city of Kirkwall play similarly to Ned’s conquest amidst human snakes in finding out the truth on why Lord Arryn was murdered. Not being sure which side to take has made Ned’s tale in Game of Thrones is so engrossing and heartwrenching as was Hawke’s tale in either siding with the mages or the templars (both of which have several different outcomes). 

But the biggest shit worthy moment was the mention of ‘blood magic’ in the book. That’s where I really stopped, smiled, and actually whispered, “Fuck… Dragon Age!”

Any of you read it?