A Game of Thrones in July 2011. 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. The novel has inspired several spin-off works, including several games. It is also the namesake and basis for the first season of "Game of Thrones", an HBO television series that premiered in April 2011. A March 2013 paperback TV tie-in re-edition was also titled "Game of Thrones", excluding the indefinite article "A". "A Game of Thrones" follows three principal storylines simultaneously. At the beginning of the story, Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark executes
A Game of Thrones imagery." Phyllis Eisenstein of the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote that, although the book uses many generic fantasy tropes, Martin's approach is "so refreshingly human and intimate that it transcends them." She described it as "an absorbing combination of the mythic, the sweepingly historical, and the intensely personal." John Prior, writing in the "San Diego Union-Tribune", called Martin's writing "strong and imaginative, with plenty of Byzantine intrigue and dynastic struggle", and compared it to Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" books, "though much darker, with no comedy or romance to relieve the nastiness." A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones is the