Welcome to 1 Samuel, the original Game of Thrones (cue awesome theme here). Oh, yes, that's right. As much as you've probably heard that the story of 1 Samuel is about the little guy (David) fighting the big guy (Goliath), that's actually not the whole point of the book. We're here to tell you that the plot of 1 Samuel is really about control of the throne of Westeros... errr... Israel.

Allow Shmoop to break it down for you:

1. Written at about 1000 B.C. by the Deuteronomists, the book starts off with a man named Eli serving as God's priest. But God decides that a young man named Samuel should be in charge, so when Eli eventually dies, Samuel takes over as priest and prophet. Everything's coming up Samuel. Hence the title. 
2. The people of Israel decide they need a king, so God makes Samuel appoint a man named Saul, who's kind of the worst. To make a long story short, Saul is a terrible king, so Samuel has to go find someone else. 
3. After a long search, Samuel ends up in Bethlehem (way before Jesus was born there), where he meets an adorable young shepherd named David. Ol' Sammy can tell this David is a special guy, so he anoints David on the spot. 
4. Fast-forward a good long while, and the Israelite army is ready to fight the Philistines. Every Israelite solider is too scared to fight Goliath, the Philistine champion, so David steps forward like a champ. Overly confident, Goliath is defeated by a stone being flung through his skull by David. Boom. Now everyone loves David. Even Saul... sort of. Well, maybe not so much Saul.
5. Now that David has gone from zero to hero, everyone has the David fever except for Saul. He tries to kill David several times out of jealousy for his newfound fame and power. And the Game of Thrones has begun. What follows until the end of 1 Samuel is a series of plot twists, battles, more plot twists, and more battles until (spoiler alert) Saul is killed on the battlefield. 1 Samuel ends on a cliffhanger, but don't worry, as with all good action adventures, there's a sequel.

Political intrigue? Check. Power plays? Check. Epic battles? Check. Seriously, Shmoopers, 1 Samuel has all the makings of every awesome R-rated movie or rated Mature TV show to grace the HBO airwaves. And our man David's the star.

So here is the real question: if the book is really about David, why is the book titled Samuel?

Any guesses?

Fine, we'll just tell you. Although the book has got David fever along with the rest of the Israelites, as Prophet-in-Residence, Samuel's there every step of the way. In fact, it's because of Samuel that most of the events transpire. He's the Gandalf to David's Bilbo. The Dumbledore to his Harry. Without the old gray wizard to guide, there is no unexpected journey and adventure. Without Samuel, there's no Game of Thrones for Israel.

Because you loved The Mighty Ducks, Rudy, and Star Wars. Because no one—and we mean no one—has ever said no to a good underdog story, and 1 Samuel is a classic.

Some of our greatest tales are based on the old little-dude-defeats-big-dude plot, and this one's no exception. From his very humble beginnings as a shepherd boy, David has to contend with all kinds of Big Bads every step of the way. See, 1 Samuel is one of the original underdog stories and it's not just about one big foe. David is constantly struggling to be the bigger man, whether it's against Goliath, Saul, or even himself at times.

Think of 1 Samuel as a precursor to all those people-pleasing blockbuster franchises making the big bucks in theaters these days. It's got all the awesome elements that pack people in those seats: violence, romance, power struggles, dashing heroes, and even a soundtrack (David's got a bit of a musical knack).

And yes—it even has a sequel.