George R.R. Martin. A Game of Thrones. Book 1

“Winter is Coming” — the stern motto of House Stark, rulers of the northernmost lands of Westeros and vassals of King Robert Baratheon. Eddard Stark governs Winterfell in Robert’s name. By his side is his family: wife Catelyn, sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon, daughters Sansa and Arya, and his illegitimate son, Jon Snow. To the north of Winterfell, beyond the towering Wall, lie the lands of the Wildlings. Encounters with them — the Others — bring death.

But the Starks’ peaceful life soon ends: the King’s Hand, Jon Arryn, dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances. King Robert travels to Winterfell, accompanied by his queen, the beautiful but cold Cersei, their son, the cruel and self-absorbed Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister — one a peerless warrior, the other a dwarf whose weapon is his brilliant mind. The meeting of Eddard and Robert at Winterfell will forever change the fate of the kingdoms.

At the same time, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir to the fallen House Targaryen that once ruled all of Westeros, plans to reclaim the throne, calling upon an army of Dothraki barbarians. He intends to buy their loyalty by offering the only valuable thing he has left: his beautiful and innocent sister, Daenerys.