There’s just one episode left in this season of HBO’s A Game of Thrones, but maybe these GoT graphic novels can tide you over till the new season begins—or refresh your memory on the first season of the show between now and then, since it will be nearly a year before season five hits the airwaves. Note that these books are based solely on the TV show, so they will not match all the characters and storylines of the original A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. Also note, the third graphic novel in this series was just published in March of this year, so you can bet more volumes are on their way to cover the rest of the HBO series.
A Game of Thrones – Vol. 1 (4/5 stars, currently priced at $9.99)
You’ve read the books. You’ve watched the hit series on HBO. Now acclaimed novelist Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson bring George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy masterwork A Game of Thrones to majestic new life in the pages of this full-color graphic novel. Comprised of the initial six issues of the comic book series, this is the first volume in what is sure to be one of the most coveted collaborations of the year.
Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn, his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon, his daughters Sansa and Arya, and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse—unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer . . . but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.
Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, Prince Joffrey, a cruel, vainglorious youth, and the queen’s brothers Jamie and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister—the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.
While across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki—whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.
A Game of Thrones – Vol. 2 (4/5 stars, currently priced at $12.99)
Novelist Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson are not merely turning George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy A Game of Thrones into a graphic novel: They are meticulously translating one art form into another, and capturing the intricate nuances of Martin’s novels just as HBO is doing with the blockbuster series. The Abraham/Patterson collaboration is more than just a faithful adaptation. It is a labor of love—and a thrilling masterwork in its own right.
Now, in the second volume, the sweeping action moves from the icy north, where the bastard Jon Snow seeks to carve out a place for himself among bitter outcasts and hardened criminals sworn to service upon the Wall . . . to the decadent south and the capital city of King’s Landing, where Jon’s father, Lord Eddard Stark, serves as the Hand of King Robert Baratheon amid a nest of courtly vipers . . . to the barbarian lands across the Narrow Sea, where the young princess Daenerys Targaryen has found the unexpected in her forced marriage to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo: love—and with it, for the first time in her life, power.
Meanwhile, the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, accused by Lady Catelyn Stark of the attempted murder of her now-crippled youngest son, must call upon all his cunning and wit to survive when he is captured and imprisoned in the lofty dungeons of the Eyrie, where Lady Stark’s sister-a woman obsessed with vengeance against all Lannisters-rules. But Catelyn’s impulsive arrest of the Imp will set in motion a series of violent events whose outcome is fated to shake the world at the worst possible moment. For now is not the time for private feuds and bloodthirsty ambitions. Winter is coming . . . and with it, terrors beyond imagining.
A Game of Thrones – Vol. 3 (4/5 stars, currently priced at $11.99)
When dealing with a masterpiece, only the best will do. That’s why writer Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson were chosen to adapt George R. R. Martin’s beloved fantasy classic A Game of Thrones as a graphic novel. And as anyone who has read the previous two collected volumes of the ongoing series can attest, the result has been a stunning tour de force faithful in every respect to its brilliant original.
In King’s Landing, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell-the Hand of King Robert Baratheon-is surrounded by enemies. Some are openly declared, such as Ser Jaime Lannister and his sister, Queen Cersei. Others are hidden in the shadows. Still others wear the smiling mask of friends. But all are deadly, as Eddard is about to discover. Nor is the enmity between Eddard and the Lannister siblings the sole source of friction between these powerful noble families.
For Tyrion Lannister, the Imp-whose stunted, twisted body houses the mind of a genius-has but lately won his freedom from Lady Catelyn Stark, Eddard’s wife, who had accused him of attempting to murder her youngest son, Brandon. Now he seeks out his father, his restless thoughts bent on revenge.
Far to the north, the bastard Jon Snow, newly sworn to the Night’s Watch, takes the first faltering steps toward a destiny stranger than he could ever dream-a destiny that will bring him face-to-face with unspeakable horrors from beyond the edge of the world.
While across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen, wed to the great Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo, and pregnant with his child-a son prophesied to conquer the world-will see her own destiny take an unforeseen turn.