I recently crawled out from under my rock and read A Game of Thrones. I haven’t tried a fantasy epic for a while - perhaps since my abortive attempt to conquer The Lord of the Rings. 'Fantasy epic' suggests to me an indeterminable hero's journey undertaken by a fated few who despise, desire, or die for one another (sometimes all three) while thwarting an apocalyptic foe. I’ve been bored by enough of those.

I expected A Game of Thrones to be a challenge. I was surprised.

A Game of Thrones is not a sword and sorcery quest. There are no innocents, no feats of magic, nor a clear distinction between 'good' and 'evil'. The tale was drawn from history rather than mythology: from the Wars of the Roses, the dynastic struggles of medieval England. Its knights are decidedly bloody. First among them is King Robert Baratheon, usurper of the Targaryen throne. Fifteen years after the conquest, he arrives at the castle of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, to make him his Hand. With the king comes Cersei Lannister, a beautiful queen from a dangerous family - which includes the Imp, her dwarf brother Tyrion. Eddard dutifully accepts his new position.

The royal court, however, is simmering with intrigue. The game of thrones has begun, and all the Starks are players. The decisions they make will lead to war. Far away, the last Targaryen princess is married to a barbarian horselord so that her brother may win back his crown. At her wedding she receives three dragon eggs. And from the North, winter is coming.

A Game of Thrones demands attention and curiosity. The author does not explain his world; he abandons the reader in an icy forest inhabited by the Night’s Watch, wildings, direwolves, and The Others. This was disorientating at first, but by the end of the prologue I was absorbed. The strange phrases and half-familiar details (Martin’s knights, for example, are addressed as ‘Ser’) compelled me to read on.

The book's detail is especially impressive. Martin describes sounds and smells as well as sights, sketching the chill fortress of Winterfell as vividly as he does the heaving capital of King’s Landing, or the grassy Dothraki sea. The setting is rich with history and culture. It is textured, complex, and a worthy stage for his characters’ political manoeuvrings.

The characters themselves are, with one or two exceptions, well-drawn. There are eight key figures in A Game of Thrones, and countless secondary and peripheral actors. Most are described for the reader, and while I sometimes had to check how they were related, I never forgot them. Among the eight narrators I found people whom I liked: Tyrion Lannister, with his sharp wits and sharper tongue; Arya, Eddard's boyish younger daughter; and Jon Snow, his bastard son. I encountered characters that irritated me—Sansa Stark, for her blind romanticism— and some who were just too good to live. (Ha! You’ll find no spoilers here.) They act according to their natures, not just to further the plot.

Despite the increasing intricacy of this plot, A Game of Thrones is easy to read. Martin's writing is modern, and the occasional awkward phrase or repetition is balanced by an equal number of nice touches.

I finished this book and then reread it. It’s been some time since I've been excited by a fantasy, but I'm tempted to make a commitment and follow A Song of Ice and Fire to its end.

My question is: will any Starks be alive to see it?

- Amy Stevenson

A Game of Thrones was the Book Club's book of the month for July. The fifth book in Martin’s epic, A Dance with Dragons, was released on July 12.