The first volume in the hugely popular and highly-acclaimed cult fantasy series. There is passion here, and misery and charm, grandeur and squalor, tragedy, nobility and courage. Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plot, lusts and intrigues; to the vast and savage eastern lands; all the way to the frozen north, where an 800-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men...all will play A Game of Thrones. Winter is coming...