
Beyond the Wall to the north, meanwhile, the Others are preparing their army of the dead to march south as the warmth of summer drains from the land. Some fight with sword and mace, others with magic and poison. In a world where the approaching winter will last four decades, kings and queens, knights and renegades struggle for control of a throne. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki-whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.

Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister-the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse-unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.

There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon his daughters Sansa and Arya and his bastard son, Jon Snow.

There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES-THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
