"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." 
 In the mythical lands of Westeros, seven noble houses fight for the control of the throne. 
 A sincere friend, a deceived king, a greedy queen, a wronged bastard, an irate brother, a helpless sister and a wise dwarf. 
 It was a vast, epic read. As the author said: "The Devil is in the details, they say. A book this size has a lot of devils, any one of which will bite you if you don't watch out. Fortunately, I have a lot of angels." It chronicles the life of a noble man, Eddard, Lord of House Stark, when his friend, the King, asks him to serve as Hand of the King. Eddard knows, after secretly warned that the former Hand was murdered, that there is no escape. Thus, he leaves with his daughters to the capital, King's Landing. Meanwhile, the old, exiled dynasty Targaryen is plotting to regain the throne. A furious, avenger prince sells his 13-year-old sister to a vicious, barbaric tribe leader as a wife for his necessary need of an army. 
 My favourite characters, by far, are Arya Stark: "I don't want to be a Lady."; unlike the other girls of her age and conditions, even her sister, she is not concerned in feminine things, but in swords, duels and arrows, and Tyrion Lannister; although he is a very wise dwarf, they mock him and call him "The Imp": "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." I did like the character of Daenerys, Jon, Catelyn and Syrio Forrel. King Robert was a bit funny to me: "Quiet, woman." And, certainly, I hated Cercei Lannister and her filthy, violent, (view spoiler)[bastard (hide spoiler)] son Joffrey. 
 Martin's language is quite clever. The story is very well-written, the events are thrilling, but the dialogue is a bit boring. It deserves more than four stars, but does not deserve the five.