A Game of Thrones

How it reads

A Game of Thrones is fantasy (epic fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an invented world, in the historical past, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are power and politics, war and secrets. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.

It opens a series. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 835 pages it's a real commitment. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.