Sentinel photo by ERIN THOMPSON
Administrative assistant for the Juniata County Library Tennille Shetron and librarian Vince Giordano pose with copies of ‘A Game of Thrones’ from George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series. The Juniata County Library will be hosting a book club over the next three months in which patrons can discuss the book in anticipation of the final season of the HBO series’Game of Thrones,’ set to be released at a future date.

MIFFLINTOWN — Area residents will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in discussions on a medieval-like world of knights, castles and dragons with an upcoming book club at the Juniata County Library.

Described by librarian Vince Giordano as a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and crime drama series “The Wire,” the library will host the first club meeting for George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones,” the first book in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, on Sept. 25.

The club was partially inspired by the story’s HBO series coming to a close. The show, he said, will soon reach its eighth and final season.

“Before, during and after the show airs, the books are checked out in droves … now this is a way to hold people over who want to stay with the story into the next season,” Giordano said.

Giordano, who is working his way through the 800-page book for the second time, said he enjoys the story’s many plot twists, character development, and of course the fact that “they’re not afraid to kill off main characters.”

“It challenges people and and makes them think about a lot of different things, but not to the point where you’re exhausted,” he said. “I think you could almost be proud of reading this … it has so many layers and as you read it again — it’s like an onion, you keep peeling the layers back.”

While the series may draw in fans for its medieval themes that are often based in fantasy, Giordano said he enjoys that the story still maintains enough realism that readers can relate.

While the television series, which aired season one in 2011, has gained a huge fanbase, Giordano says the club is not intended for just “super serious fans,” and that there is “something for everyone” in the book.

Giordano said the books follow “very closely” with the HBO series and while they are “dense,” “it is not so much where you are going to give up on them,” he said.

The library will hold three book discussions held about a month apart and participants will be expected to read between 200 and 320 pages each month.

While Giordano doesn’t currently have plans to host discussions on other books in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, he said he would be open to it in the future.

“I think this book is accessible, people have their work cut out for them to read,” he said.

As someone who says he used to read primarily nonfiction, Giordano was drawn to the “Game of Thrones” and has enjoyed being able to pick up on details he missed his first time reading it that came up again later in the series.

“I really like it that the book and the show are challenging in that you can’t just breeze through them. There are so many details and one sentence detail is going to come back in three books and become a huge thing,” he said. “I like the challenge. I like connecting the dots.”

To sign up for the book club, visit www.juniatalibrary.org or call (717) 436-6378. Interested participants can pick up a copy of the book and a study guide at the library