Catelyn's childhood friend, Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish, implicates Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf brother of Cersei and Jaime, in the assassination attempt. Upon arriving in King's Landing to take his post as Hand, Ned finds that Robert is an ineffective king whose only interests are hunting, drinking, and womanizing.Īt Winterfell, an assassin attempts to kill Bran while he is unconscious, and Ned's wife Catelyn travels to King's Landing to bring word to Ned. Ned leaves his castle Winterfell and departs for the capital city, King's Landing, bringing along his daughters Sansa and Arya. Shortly thereafter, Ned's son Bran discovers Cersei having sex with her twin brother Jaime Lannister, who throws Bran from the tower to conceal their affair, leaving him comatose and paralyzing his legs. Ned accepts the position when he learns that Arryn's widow Lysa believes he was poisoned by Robert's wife Queen Cersei Lannister and her family. Upon the death of Lord Jon Arryn, the principal advisor to King Robert Baratheon, Robert recruits his childhood friend Eddard 'Ned' Stark, now Warden of the North, to replace Arryn as Hand of the King, and to betroth his daughter Sansa to Robert's son Joffrey. Ī Game of Thrones follows three principal storylines simultaneously. A March 2013 paperback TV tie-in re-edition was also titled Game of Thrones, excluding the indefinite article 'A'. It is also the namesake and basis for the first season of Game of Thrones, an HBO television series that premiered in April 2011.

The novel has inspired several spin-off works, including several games. In the novel, recounting events from various points of view, Martin introduces the plot-lines of the noble houses of Westeros, the Wall, and the Targaryens. In January 2011, the novel became a New York Times Bestseller and reached No. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award and was nominated for both the 1997 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award. It was first published on August 1, 1996. A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by the American author George R.

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