A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One (A Song of Ice and Fire Graphic Novels)

This volume covers roughly the first quarter of the original Game of Thrones novel (which would correspond to the first 2 or 3 episodes of season 1 of the HBO series). The illustrations are beautiful and the book does a good job of telling George Martin's original story. And, although I have both seen the series and read the original novel (and love both), this book manages to be engaging and unique in its own right. This is a new adaptation of the novel and it stays closer to the source material than the HBO series. Character designs are closer to their descriptions in the book and dialog is lifted directly from the novel more often. The nicest difference between this adaptation and the TV series is that some details that were skipped altogether in the series or extremely simplified do make it into the graphic novel. For example, Bran's visions of the three eyed raven are much longer and more detailed, giving us much more information about the nature of Bran's powers. You also get a little bit more background on Daenerys. Having said all that, it's still pretty close to being a version the TV series in comic book form. Season 1 of the series was itself relatively faithful to the book. So, the graphic novel is not all that different. I'm hoping the creators of the graphic novels make it all the way to adapting Martin's fourth novel, where the TV series began to depart significantly from the books it's based on. It would be nice to see Martin's original ideas in graphic form. Finally, like the TV series, this is definitely NOT for children. The levels of sexuality and violence depicted here are comparable to the HBO series. If you wouldn't want your kids watching the TV show, you wouldn't want them reading this.

Ever since I heard about the plans for a graphic novel of Game of Thrones I was excited. I am a massive fan of the books and a fan of the HBO show as well and I couldn't wait to delve into Westeros once again in a different medium. I wasn't disappointed. The art in this is beautiful. Well designed characters and fantastic coloring really brings the story to life. This graphic novel stays MUCH closer to the source material. It's literally the book in visual form. I understand that some people have been disappointed at some of the creative license taken in the HBO show (Characters cut, characters added, new storylines, name changes) and although I understand why some of the changes have been made, you can't help but feel it's not exactly the world the George R R Martin had in mind. Not so with the graphic novel. No cuts here. This is the story and world and characters that George created. So if you're looking for Game of Thrones in a visual format, that stays true to the books, definitely give this a go. It's not the entire first book but they are still bringing out more. And you can't argue with the cheap price either. Looking forward to Volume 2!

I recently bought and tore through the first edition of the Game of Thrones Graphic Novel series. The story essentially follows the books (and also the television series) fairly closely. The preface, written by George R.R. Martin, was good stuff and he has to love the success his series is having. At 183 pages, this hardcover could have been longer, and ended at a point where I was just starting to become vested in the story. It seemed to end too early. The artist gave the characters an original look, getting very close to the image I got from reading the novels. I did like the artwork quite a bit and the artist definitely has a lot of talent. The overall quality of this hardcover could have been better. I would rather have seen sewn bindings instead of glued, and the plain white cover was a but dull. The dust jacket helps, but i would prefer full color to the pencil drawing. If you are a fan of the books, you would most probably enjoy this rendition. If you are a fan of comics, this story is the beginning of an adventure on an epic scale that promises to be a series worthy of collecting. Overall, I enjoyed it and will be looking forward to the release of the second volume.

I've been having difficulty over the last few years of maintaining an attention span with modern novels. It's a me problem, not the books. I wanted to reignite my interest in books again and have heard a lot of good things about graphic novels (for those who don't know it's just a collection of comic issues). Let me just say this book was amazing. I burnt through it in two days. It covers some things not explored in the show, while staying true to GRRM's vision. Hands down must read for both novel-nuts and comic nerds alike.

Well, this was super fun! Have only read the first novel....A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE....but have seen the entire HBO series....and am hooked. Do believe I'll finish reading the series in graphic form as George R. R. Martin makes it clear in the preface that the graphic form is not a tie-in to the TV series, but an original adaptation to his novels. Am excited to find out the storyline differences! He also explains it's why the characters do not look like the actors on our flat screens. Tyrion Lannister (midget) to Jon Snow (bastard)..........."Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you." Wonderfully illustrated.....and a nice refresher of how it all began! Note: Note for children.

I have read all the books, my wife & I have seen all the seasons of the TV show. We both love the entire series. My wife is a huge fan of grahic novels so I thought I will buy the first two volumes for her to see how she likes it. She not only likes it, she loves it. The characters are very well done and the artistry is pretty cool. What better way to read a phenomenal story than as a graphic novel. Definitely waiting for Volume 3.

So, I like this comic book in general. The art is good but no remarkable, the faces faded in my eyes, the most seems to be the same in all the characters who shared some features. And about the adaptation, looks like Daniel Abraham extract the spoken lines in the book, copied here and cut the descriptions. That makes the scene's cuts poorly constructed and without any grace. The overall work diminished the original book and erase almost all of the magic in it. I think that's because it was no adaptation at all, just a "copy and paste", unlike the tv series. Every gender needs some changes in order to fit and don't lose what makes "A song of Ice and Fire" special. And I don't count as changes some wacky and rude cuts in the scenes. That's just poorly work. The thing I like it the most is the cover, even when is just a layer, not printed in the actually cover, a white "beatles" cover that also like. Back on the cover art, it features a draw of Ned Stark made up with a pencil-like, just gray-scale and a red crow shape. He has the eyes close and the head down, somehow reflecting all the burden he is holding above his shoulders. Yes, in one draw. That's what rocks!!! I wish all the comic was make it like this adding vintage colors and using gestures of the characters instead of spoken lines surrounded by white blooms. Here, all I see is every person with the mouth open, the same look in their faces, no expression at all. Yicks. Destroyed all I ever imagined in my mine. Well, I'm gonna stop because it seems that the comic is terrible and it isn't. Is just that I expected much more. I expected love for GoT. And I think neither Abraham nor Patterson are true fans. Was another contract work they have to finish in time for Tv Series Second season premiere. Better keep looking in Devianart for draws with more heart in it.

First off, anyone purchasing this graphic novel should know that this is not an adaptation of the television show Game of Thrones. It is instead an adaptation of the novel A Game of Thrones (which the show is based on). This may seem like a minor detail, but it is an original adaptation, and thus characters will look as they are described in the book, not like how they do on the show. Obviously this is not meant to detract anyone from purchasing this collection. It is an awesome adaptation in its own right, and if you haven't read the books (you should, by the way, as they are excellent) this graphic novel will do a great job of introducing you to the writing of George R.R. Martin, who wrote the books and will also be writing one episode per season of the show. The fact that this isn't a direct adaptation of the show actually makes it that much more valuable, because you'll get to see a lot of the little scenes from the books that didn't make the final cut in the show, and also be introduced to plenty of side characters who were either removed completely for the show (for obvious reasons...you can't have a show with hundreds of characters) or marginalized. The artwork looks very good and the writing is uniformly excellent (which is to be expected). I highly recommend this for anyone who is a fan of the book series (A Song of Ice and Fire) or the show on HBO (Game of Thrones).