A Game of Thrones - By George R. R. Martin

winter is coming. This is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost fiefdom that owes allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in remote King's Landing. There is Eddard Stark of Winterfell ruling in Robert's name. There dwells his family in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; His sons are Rob, Brandon and Rickon. his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far in the north, behind the towering wall, lie brutal Wildings and the worst - unnatural things relegated to legend during the centuries of summer, but proven all too real and too deadly early in the season. However, an immediate threat lies in the south, where Jon Arryn, the King's Hand, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is marching north to Winterfell, bearing his queen, the beautiful but cold Cersei, and his son, the ruthless and forgiving Prince Joffrey, and the Queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the mighty and wealthy House of Lannister—the first swordsman like no other, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. They are all heading to Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of the kingdoms. Meanwhile, across the narrow sea, Prince Viserys, heir to the crumbling House of Targaryen, who once ruled all of Westeros, plots to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki - who will buy his loyalty with the only currency left for him: a beautiful but innocent sister, Daenerys.