A Game of Thrones
This blog post is formatted a lot differently than my previous book club posts because it will be a part of my Series Deep Dive blog where the current deep dive is A Court of Wings and Ruin or best known by the Maas-Verse as ACOWAR. You don’t have to adhere to this schedule, of course, but here is a reading schedule to help manage the book’s length and complexity. The novel has 73 chapters, so let’s break it down into manageable chunks This way, you’ll read about 2-3 chapters per day and the epic series can be tackled in about a month.
Week 1:
Day 1: Prologue + Bran I
Day 2: Catelyn I + Daenerys I
Day 3: Eddard I + Jon I
Day 4: Catelyn II + Arya I
Day 5: Bran II + Tyrion I
Day 6: Jon II + Daenerys II
Day 7: Eddard II + Tyrion II
Week 2:
Day 8: Catelyn III + Sansa I
Day 9: Eddard III + Bran III
Day 10: Catelyn IV + Jon III
Day 11: Eddard IV + Tyrion III
Day 12: Arya II + Daenerys III
Day 13: Bran IV + Eddard V
Day 14: Jon IV + Eddard VI
Week 3:
Day 15: Catelyn V + Sansa II
Day 16: Eddard VII + Tyrion IV
Day 17: Arya III + Eddard VIII
Day 18: Catelyn VI + Eddard IX
Day 19: Daenerys IV + Bran V
Day 20: Tyrion V + Eddard X
Day 21: Catelyn VII + Jon V
Week 4:
Day 22: Tyrion VI + Eddard XI
Day 23: Sansa III + Eddard XII
Day 24: Daenerys V + Eddard XIII
Day 25: Jon VI + Eddard XIV
Day 26: Arya IV + Sansa IV
Day 27: Jon VII + Bran VI
Day 28: Daenerys VI + Catelyn VIII
Day 29: Tyrion VII + Sansa V
Day 30: Eddard XV + Catelyn IX
Enjoy your journey through Westeros! 🏰📖
“When you play the game of thrones, you win, or you die. There is no middle ground.”
―George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
Map of Westeros
House Stark
Eddard Stark who also answers to Ned is the head of House Stark. His titles are Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. Like most of the lords of great houses, Ned descends from Kings. Until the rise of the Targaryens, who conquered the seven kingdoms and consolidated them under one Targaryen King.
Eddard has one older brother, Brandon and two younger siblings. A sister named Lyanna and a brother named Benjen. His best friend is Robert from House Baratheon. Robert is engaged to Lyanna.
Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, captivated by Lyanna Stark’s beauty, abducted her. Brandon (the eldest Stark child) rode to King’s landing (House Targaryen Royal Seat) and demanded the return of his sister. Brandon was immediately arrested and thrown in the dungeons. Lord Rickard Stark (their dad) was summoned by King Aerys II, also known as The Mad King, to King’s Landing to answer for his son’s crimes. When he arrived Rickard demanded a trial by combat and selected himself as House Stark’s champion. When he arrived in the throne room dressed in his steel armor, The Mad King declared fire the champion of House Targaryen. Rickard was suspended from the rafters and a fire was lit beneath him. Brandon was present for all of this. The king had a noose tied around his neck, and the rope was attached to some sort of strangulation device. A sword was placed just out of reach. The king told Brandon, if he can reach his sword and cut his father loose, they could leave King’s Landing alive. While his father slowly cooked to death, screaming in agony, Brandon strangled himself trying to reach his sword.
The Mad King messed up. He executed the Lord of Winterfell and his heir, but he left the spare alive. Ned joined his forces with Robert’s and marched to war against the Targaryens.
House Lannister
Words: Hear Me Roar
Seat: Casterly Rock
Lord: Tywin Lannister
Tywin is the head of House Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, and Warden of the West. Tywin is probably one the most powerful lords in Westeros. His daughter Cersei is Queen, and her twin brother Jaime can be counted among the best swordsmen.
Tywin Lannister is well known for his hand in the downfall of House Reyne (pronounced like rain) of Castamere. Long story short, Tywin had grown tired of House Reyne making a fool of his father Tytos. The Reyne’s had borrowed large amounts of gold from House Lannister and refused to repay. Tywin summoned Houses Tarbeck and Reyne to answer for their crimes. They chose to ignore the summons and launched an all-out rebellion against house Lannister. This was a mistake. Tywin took his forces and decimated House Tarbeck first. House Reyne retreated into the mines beneath Castamere and offered terms of peace to Tywin. Tywin refused peace terms, ordered the mine sealed and diverted the nearby body of water, drowning everyone inside. Thus, exterminating House Reyne. Everyone in Westeros knows of Tywin’s wrath through the song The Rains of Castamere.
House Tully
Words: Family, Duty, Honor
Seat: Riverrun
Lord: Hoster Tully
At the start of A Game of Thrones, Catelyn is a Stark, but she was born a Tully. Catelyn is married to Ned Stark and together they have five children, and they are happily married. Catelyn’s story is a bit more complicated. When she was young, Catelyn was betrothed to Brandon Stark, the heir to Winterfell. When Brandon was executed by Mad King Aerys, Catelyn honored her family and performed her duty by marrying the heir to Winterfell…Ned Stark. Their wedding day took place during Roberts Rebellion. This marriage bonded the Starks to the Tully’s and bolstered their banners. Catelyn and Ned’s marriage was consummated and Ned rode back out to war two weeks later. Nine months later, Catelyn and Ned’s first son, Robb was born.
When the war ended, and the family reunited at Winterfell, there was another child. Ned’s bastard son. Jon Snow. Ned insisted on raising Jon at Winterfell among Catelyn’s true born children and refused to name his mother. Catelyn never treated Jon with love or respect, but she remained true to her family’s words: Family, Duty, Honor.
House Targaryen
Words: Fire and Blood
Seat: None
Lord: None
Princess Daenerys Targaryen’s family ruled the seven kingdoms for nearly 300 years. All that changed when her oldest brother, Prince Rhaegar abducted Lyanna Stark, and started a war.
As Robert’s army marched towards King’s Landing, Queen Rhaella fled to Dragonstone, House Targaryen’s ancestral seat with her young son Prince Viserys. She was pregnant with Daenerys at the time. Not long after she fled King’s Landing, House Targaryen fell, and Robert Baratheon was not merciful. Crown Prince Rhaegar finally emerged from hiding to meet Robert on the battlefield and was slain. All the Targaryens in residence at King’s Landing was put to the sword. The Mad King Aerys, was stabbed in the back (literally) by Jaime Lannister, and Robert Baratheon claimed the Iron Throne. Daenerys was born nine months later, Rhaella died in labor.
King Robert never gave up his quest to annihilate House Targaryen, leaving the last two living Targaryen’s one option. To flee.
Words: Ours is the Fury
Seat: King’s Landing, Dragonstone, and Storm’s End
Lords: King Robert Baratheon at Kings Landing
Stannis Baratheon at Dragonstone
Renly Baratheon at Storm’s End
