Game of Thrones

My favorite favorite favorite book series! I would not recommend this series for middle school students, and I would not have this series on my classroom shelves. But I absolutely love this series. I read A Game of Thrones about two years ago after watching the first season of the show on HBO. After I read the first book, I finished the books published thus far in about two months. Recently, (last week actually) I finished the Dunk and Egg trilogy. If you are interested in more information about the vast and complex history of Westeros, then I would suggest diving into these books. You get a much better look at royalty from House Targaryen, a house that is all but extinct except for one or two individuals in Dance of Dragons. Daenerys is probably one of my favorite characters in the series (a tie with Tyrion Lannister), so I loved reading about her ancestors.

The show on HBO has recieved a tremendous amount of attention recently for its graphic and horrendous scenes in recent episodes (like the rape of Sansa Stark, which never even happened in the books). Some fans are crying out that many of these events are unprecedented and should never have been on the TV show, but if you think Martin is not putting some form of stamp of approval on this show, you're crazy. He has been involved with the show from its inception, and he has even written episodes. I just hope he finishes Winds of Winter soon, because I am ready to see how he fixes a few of those cliff-hangers.