It took 4 years to complete the graphic novel adaptation of [b:A Game of Thrones|13496|A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)|George R.R. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1369520317s/13496.jpg|1466917]. Each volume had extras at the end to give the obsessive reader an inside look at the thought processes behind the project. I've read the book 2 or 3 times, and it was fun to revisit it in this format. Very well done. ( )

This is the final installment of the graphic novel. It only takes us to the end of book one of the Song of Ice and Fire, but then again, apparently the graphic novel is actually called A Game of Thrones, the official title of the first book of the series, and not Game of Thrones, the title of the all-encompassing TV show, so I guess I should have expected that.

It's too bad. I wanted to use the graphic novels to brush up on the goings on in Westeros before the sixth book comes out, but they wouldn't have been ready anyway. I do hope they continue with the rest of the books someday.

As I've said before, the artist is better with action scenes and fighting rather than with facial expressions, which I think is a drawback in Martin's universe, where political maneuvering is more common than battles. This final installment actually has a lot of battles, but Abraham follows Martin's lead in not always showing the action directly. In prose, this is good, because reading about many similar battles can get tedious, but if you have an artist that is better at drawing them than at drawing conversing characters, then it is perhaps not the best choice.

Female characters especially tend to not be the best - Catelyn Stark looks like a fourteen year old boy in some panels. Ironically, the bonus appendix contains the artist's own description of his process for drawing characters and expressions. Good stuff, nevertheless. ( )

This is the final volume in the [b: A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel|12962439|A Game of Thrones The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1|Daniel Abraham|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1369052110s/12962439.jpg|18120108] series, with the adaptation of [b: A Clash of Kings|10572|A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)|George R.R. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358254974s/10572.jpg|3272005] likely to begin being collected in the next year or two. The issues are on-going at least, as I checked Dynamite's website to see whether or not it had just been cancelled. No, it's continuing on and with art in much the same style as the first arc of issues...

I had been happy enough to give the bulk of these volumes 2 stars due to the accuracy of the adaptation. I can appreciate what they were trying to do, and the importance of good location/setting design in an artist. They adapted things well from a text standpoint and pacing standpoint, but the artwork distracted me too much to truly enjoy it. Unfortunately in this final volume the artwork distracted me to the point that I simply wanted to put the book down.

Certain scenes with Dany and Eddard's dreams were rendered in what I'm guessing was meant to be a more artistic style that only succeeded in making the comic look more low-budget than it already did. Certain designs were just... lazy, and in long-shot panels some people even seemed to have lost their faces much like the Kindly Men.

I'm glad I got through it, but man, it was rough. ( )

A lot of the women look very similar as do a lot of the men, it was an interesting interpretation, the contrast between the red background and the black text was sometimes a bit hard on my eyes.

Still interesting and follows the story better than the TV series, while being faster. ( )