Note: I have only seen the very first episode of Game of Thrones from the first season. I have not watched anything past that and all the opinions I have on the characters are based on the book. 
 Well Damn. 
 This book. 
 How do I even begin to write a review about this? The scope of this books is way too large for me to even consider writing a review to do it justice, but I'll give it a shot anyway. 
 A Game of Thrones is the first in a seven(?) book series and is the inspiration for the popular HBO show Game of Thrones. Starting off I can clearly see why this book/series intimidates a lot of people. 
 1. It's huge 
 2. It's adult epic fantasy 
 3. You follow several different story lines told from different POVs. 
 4. It's this big and it's only book one. 
 All those things aside, even though this book can be intimidating and a daunting read, it is so worth it! The world is well crafted, the writing style is easy to read, the characters are diverse and have their own distinct voice and personality and the story line...my god that story line. SO many things are happening that it feels like I've read three books instead of just one! I really loved this book. 
 It took me a while to get through simply because of how life worked out. I kept picking it up and having to put it back down again but I've finally finished it and I know it will be a definite re-read in the future. 
 An interesting thing with A Game of Thrones, is that yes it is an epic high fantasy adult novel. But we not only have strong male characters, but female characters as well. Usually novels like that are read from a male's perspective and that's it. There's no strong female voices or characters or if there is they're a side character hanging out in the background. Which is completely fine, I still enjoy those stories. But in A Game of Thrones we get Daenerys and Catelyn and some could argue Cersei as well though I'm not including her in this for the time being since we did not read from her point of view. 
 One of the biggest strengths this books has is its cast of characters. Martin has his typical male characters that we read from: Ed Stark, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister etc. Yet he also has female characters that we get to read from: Daenerys, Catelyn, Arya etc. In each character they all have their own voices, their own personalities and it was easy for me to tell them apart. 
 It was kind of annoying at times changing the narrator every chapter. Especially when all I wanted was to read what happened to Daenerys but I had to go through Jon, Sansa, Catelyn, Tyrion and Catelyn again to get back to her point of view. But it is a minor annoyance/complaint I have with this book since each of the characters had their own mildly interesting conflicts and plot lines. Just some I enjoyed reading from more than other. 
 Favorite characters/POV 
 Tyrion Lannister 
 One of my top favorite characters in general and to read from is Tyrion Lannister. He's bitter and sarcastic but endearing (view spoiler)[ He's been dealt a raw deal, especially being of the Lannister family. But he gave the plans to Rob for a special saddle for Bran so he could ride again, and towards the end he asks for a whore, but he doesn't treat her as is depicted by the other men in the world. He knows what they are yet he still treats them well which was not typical in this particular setting (hide spoiler)] He brings a bit of humor into a very dark story and I love his snarky attitude. He also has a love for reading which I can obviously relate to. 
 Eddard Stark 
 Another character I really enjoyed was Lord of Winterfell Eddard Stark. Proud, quiet, cautious and unfailingly loyal. His POV were some of my favorite chapters to read (view spoiler)[ Spoiled little shit Joffrey just had to behead him didn't he? *insert swearing here* (hide spoiler)] Out of all the characters (that we come across in this book) I definitely think he was one of the more tragic characters and in all reality I feel like his is kind of the voice of reason at times. Or at least the more clearheaded of the group. 
 Daenerys Targaryen 
 I adore Daenerys. She's my favorite female character at this point in time. She was treated so badly by her brother and I wouldn't want to be in her position but at the end of the book she is really starting to come into her own and she's becoming a bad ass! (view spoiler)[ I mean, come on, wouldn't you want three dragons? (hide spoiler)] Out of all of the characters in the story I think she's one of the few that has developed the most since we first met her in the beginning of the book. 
 Least Favorite Characters/POV 
 Sansa Stark 
 I can't stand Sansa Stark. She is one of my least favorite characters and I cringed reading the chapters from her point of view. Along with this I also can't stand Joffrey Lannister, but since we don't get his point of view and he shows up mostly in Sansa's chapters I'm lumping him in with her. I can't really relate or identify with Sansa and I think she's kind of a spoiled brat and I really hope she doesn't make it much farther in the series... 
 Arya Stark 
 I'm also not the biggest fan of Arya either. Although I don't dislike her as much as her older sister Sansa, I still found her annoying at times. Granted I enjoyed reading from her point of view at times, but still I found myself reading quickly through her story line to get to some of the others. I can identify with her tomboy-ish nature but she just kind of fell flat for me in this story. I found myself getting a headache right alongside Ed when she and Sansa would start to bicker. 
 Not the best review I've ever given, but in all actuality, you really just have to read it. You can read as many reviews as you want but none of them are going to be able to encompass what A Game of Thrones is. It's dynamic, entertaining, thrilling, endearing and just a whirlwind of a story. 
 For those that are still on the fence, and haven't seen the show, I would suggest that you watch the very first episode and then start the book. The first episode introduces the major players in the first book for the most part. So by watching the first episode you can get a mental picture of the characters and associate names to faces. This will make reading the book easier when you start flipping between the different points of views since you'll have a mental image to represent the name. At the very least it was helpful to me.