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18 July 2011

First Chapter, First Paragraph...


This is my first time participating in Bibliophile by the Sea's First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday Intro. I'm reading A Clash Of Kings, the second book in George RR Martin's A Game of Thrones series (my review of A Game of Thrones coming soon).

There is some fantasy which is why I initially shied away from it, but as I read it now, I am learning that while it's there, it is nowhere near what I expected, nor is it unnerving in the least. It is a medieval saga through and through, sprinkled with wonderful fantastical elements. Take a look at the first two paragraphs of A Clash of Kings...
The comet's tail spread across the dawn, a red slash that bled above the crags of Dragonstone like a wound in the pink and purple sky.
The maester stood on the windswept balcony outside his chambers. It was here the ravens came, after long flight. Their droppings speckled the gargoyles that rose twelve feet tall on either side of him, a hellhound and a wyvern, two of the thousand that brooded over the walls of the ancient fortress. When first he came to Dragonestone, the army of stone grotesques had made him uneasy, but as the years passed he had grown used to them. Now he thought of them as old friends The three of them watched the sky together with foreboding.
While George RR Martin takes liberties in the spelling of names, words, etc. (i.e., "Maester" instead of "Master), it just flows. I love every second of this. And am so mad at myself that it's taken me this long to pick this series up.

Happy Reading,
Natalie, the Coffee and a Book Chick

13 comments:

  1. I don't read very much fantasy (except for a few HP's and The Magicians), but this is really intriguing! I'll be looking for your review later on.

    Thanks so much for participating Natalie.

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  2. Isn't it great when a story flows like that for us? I love that feeling. This one certainly sounds very vivid.

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  3. I'm very tempted to pick this series up...

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  4. I tried the first in this series, and for some reason, I found it hard to read. That was before I really started to get and enjoy fantasy, and I think that if I read it now, I would appreciate it much more than I did before. I will be excited to see what you finally think of this one. It promises to be exciting.

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  5. I'm planning on starting "A Game of Thrones" any day now--because of the TV adaptation, I admit. I've heard that a lot of the TV fans get turned off because the books are densely written and a bit hard to follow, but I'm hoping for good things--the core concept and various storylines are just so compelling, it seems like it has to be good!

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  6. Love the meme, and this paragraph. I've definitely shied from this series for the genre and size of the books, but so many people rave about it, clearly I'm in the minority. Thanks for sharing this tidbit!

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  7. I have several friends RAVING about this TV series and from the first paragraph, it certainly sounds pretty cool. I'm not usually a massive fan of Fantasy but this does sound intriguing. Looking forward to the review!

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  8. This series scares me! Such a commitment!

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  9. I shied away from this series, not because I don't enjoy fantasy, but because the first book, especially, seems to delight in featuring the rape of a young teenage girl. It just put me right off even attempting to read it.

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  10. Yay, glad you're enjoying it! I hated the Maester/Master, Ser/Sir thing, but I've gotten used to it now (still don't like it but it doesn't jar me the way it did when I started).

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  11. I'm not a fantasy reader, but thanks for sharing the intro!

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  12. I'll join the "I'm not much of a fantasy reader" group; however, I know people who *don't* read fantasy have been raving about the TV series. Maybe I should start with that, and work my way back to the printed word that inspired it.

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  13. Yea!! Glad you are enjoying these books. Although fantasy, they are not what I consider fantasy. Once you get the people straight, you're good to go.

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