A Game of Thrones book club questions

1. 1.

   Ned Stark knows his honor will cost him and proceeds anyway. Is that admirable, delusional, or both? Does the book want you to admire him or pity him?

2. 2.

   The rotating POV structure means we spend significant time inside Cersei and Jaime's perspectives. By the end of the book, how much sympathy do you have for each of them? Is that sympathy manipulated or earned?

3. 3.

   Martin has said his inspiration was the Wars of the Roses. Does the book feel more like fantasy or historical fiction? What's lost and what's gained by setting it in a secondary world?

4. 4.

   Jon Snow chooses the Night's Watch over family and inheritance. The book doesn't clearly endorse or condemn that choice. What do you think the narrative thinks of it?

5. 5.

   Daenerys starts the book as a prop in her brother's ambitions. Track her choices across the novel: at what point does she stop being acted on and start acting? What tips the balance?

6. 6.

   Tyrion Lannister is defined in part by how other characters underestimate him because of his size. The book uses his perspective to comment on power and perception. How well does it work compared to how the show handled it?

7. 7.

   The Others — the threat from beyond the Wall — are barely present in this book. Does their near-absence make them more or less threatening? Is Martin right to keep them in the background?

8. 8.

   By the end of the novel, who do you trust? Which characters feel genuinely unpredictable, and which feel like they have fixed moral alignments despite the book's stated moral ambiguity?

9. 9.

   The sexual violence in the book has been debated at length. Does it serve the story or does it feel gratuitous? Where is the line, and does Martin stay on the right side of it?

10. 10.

    The series is famously unfinished. Does knowing that change how you feel about investing in the characters and their arcs?

11. 11.

    Compare Ned Stark's failure to, say, Eddard's equivalents in real historical fiction about medieval courts. Is his naivety realistic for a man of his background, or does it feel rigged for the plot?

12. 12.

    The book ends with Daenerys hatching dragons. Does that moment feel earned, or does it suggest the supernatural cavalry will eventually arrive to solve what is fundamentally a political problem?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.