A Game of Thrones

I read this book about 10 or 11 years ago and hated it. I suffered through the second book in the series and then gave up. I refused to watch the HBO series until last year. Then it kind of grew on me, so I decided to read the books again. This time around, the book wasn't as nearly as awful. I've resigned myself to the fact that it's a fantasy soap opera with no clear resolution. I also accept, although I don't like it much, the killing off of central characters. In the world of fantasy literature, there are a lot of books that adhere to certain standards and conform to certain norms. This series isn't one of them, and I just have to accept that and enjoy it for what it is.

Wow. Loved it. Intense, fascinating, well-written. Complex, flawed characters - almost all of them provoked multiple reactions, and not all positive or all negative. Incredible world-building. Can't wait to get into book 2.

Edit: Just finished it for the second time - loved it even more this time.