Castles, swords, bloodlines, honor (and betrayal), and war. What "A Game of Thrones" lacks in subtly or originality it makes up for with strong world building and (what I consider to be) relate-able characters (my wife complains that nearly all of the characters are foolish, so maybe my empathy for them supports claims of my low intelligence). Winterfell, The Eyrie, The Wall, Riverun... all places of texture and symbolism and grand design, with inhabitants no less interesting or tragic.

I did find the majority of the large-scale battles to be tiresome, finding more to like in the before, after, and in between. And I hope the book's sexism arises more from running in the vein of an established genre than from the author's own feelings on gender.

I plan to continue reading the series, and look forward to eventually watching the HBO television series. I'm sure I'll find things to annoy me about future books, but hopefully such annoyances will pale in comparison to the vast threads of hope and tragedy woven throughout.