A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One

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.

I was a little skeptical when I was first told that Game of Thrones would be adapted into a comic book but of course I had to give it a chance after reading the book and watching the show. This comic book, or graphic novel if you prefer, is an excellent adaptation of the source material and a refreshing take on it with wonderfully done artwork that brings Westeros alive in a more intimate way than the show and a more visual way than the book. With the show the rapid movement of characters and plots and the jumping between perspectives leaves little to be seen of the world around the characters unless they happen to linger in a place for several episodes and in the books the imagery is all up to the readers imagination which is fun but there is no shame in enjoying the brilliant artwork of Tommy Patterson. This is an excellent buy for anyone who loves comics, graphic novels, and A Song of Ice and Fire however if you've already read the books or watched the show it doesn't really offer anything spectacularly new other than a new take on the images we've come to associate with the series.

Incredibile. Non pensavo che mi sarei stupita della qualità di un "graphic novel" e invece sì: mi piace tutto, dalla qualità della carta, ai dettagli dei personaggi, alle nuances delle tonalità scelte... è davvero tutto di qualità, un must se amate il trono di spade. Ecco... per i puristi sappiate che questo libro (e i successivi) è figlio della serie TV della HBO, non dei libri: alcuni dettagli ve lo confermeranno (come per esempio i capelli di Jon Snow). E' però bello il connubio tra i libri (scritti benissimo da Martin), la propria fantasia nell'immaginare le scene, e la resa grafica presa in prestito dalla serie televisiva (fantastica, ma a mio parere una cosa parallela ai libri). Io penso che questi libri possano piacere di più a chi è partito con i libri più che con la serie TV, per cercare di fare "un passo indietro" rispetto alle "figure in movimento del piccolo schermo" che tolgono tutto all'immaginazione. Con la scusa di regalare al marito questo libro, mi sono procurata i primi 4 volumi e aspetto i successivi... ;-)

Livro muito bem feito. Arte muito bonita pra quem é fã da série.

Good artwork and nice quality book. The art is in color BTW.