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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Towards the end, sentences got noticeably sloppier. There were a few that I had to read over again to understand exactly what they were saying. I guess they kinda rushed it out...
Otherwise, my only other gripe is the amount of times GRRM will bring up a scandalous rumor only to say "that probably didn't happen, so we can move on." For example, there's a passage where he claims that according to one rumor, the prince was being pleasured orally by a girl of no more than 12 when he heard the news of his father's death - then goes on to dismiss this as exaggerated. I think with the framing of this book being a history tome, it feels a little out of place for the author (framed as a Maester) to put forward this rumor only to dismiss it out of hand. Especially given the nature of the rumor, I'm not sure what purpose bringing this up would serve in that context, nor do I know what purpose it serves even outside of that framing. Sometimes it's clear that these asides are meant to be funny, but most of the time they just take me out of the the book.
I do feel that these are mostly minor issues, though. I was worried I would find this book dry, but it was quite engaging throughout. Despite the fact that the storytelling is pretty detached from the characters themselves, I found myself getting attached to a few of them, especially the characters found in King Jahaerys and Queen Alysanne's section. The periods of peace and prosperity are just as entertaining to read about as the plotting and betrayals that GRRM is famous for. The illustrations are also fantastic!
Oh! And this book REALLY needed a map. I hope they added one in the paperback because I DO NOT REMEMBER WHERE TUMBLETON IS, GEORGE, and I shouldn't have to pull one of your other books off my shelf to find out. A list of the dragons and their riders would've been nice too, but was less necessary.
Otherwise, my only other gripe is the amount of times GRRM will bring up a scandalous rumor only to say "that probably didn't happen, so we can move on." For example, there's a passage where he claims that according to one rumor, the prince was being pleasured orally by a girl of no more than 12 when he heard the news of his father's death - then goes on to dismiss this as exaggerated. I think with the framing of this book being a history tome, it feels a little out of place for the author (framed as a Maester) to put forward this rumor only to dismiss it out of hand. Especially given the nature of the rumor, I'm not sure what purpose bringing this up would serve in that context, nor do I know what purpose it serves even outside of that framing. Sometimes it's clear that these asides are meant to be funny, but most of the time they just take me out of the the book.
I do feel that these are mostly minor issues, though. I was worried I would find this book dry, but it was quite engaging throughout. Despite the fact that the storytelling is pretty detached from the characters themselves, I found myself getting attached to a few of them, especially the characters found in King Jahaerys and Queen Alysanne's section. The periods of peace and prosperity are just as entertaining to read about as the plotting and betrayals that GRRM is famous for. The illustrations are also fantastic!
Oh! And this book REALLY needed a map. I hope they added one in the paperback because I DO NOT REMEMBER WHERE TUMBLETON IS, GEORGE, and I shouldn't have to pull one of your other books off my shelf to find out. A list of the dragons and their riders would've been nice too, but was less necessary.
dark
sad
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Me ha encantado y muy mal que no sea toda la historia de los Targaryen. No me esperaba que se cortara a mitad de reinado. Pero que bien escrito y realista son la inmensa multitud de personajes que van pasando a lo largo de la historia de Westeros. El estilo de historiador narrando y aportando fuentes y diversas historias de lo sucedido y dejando al lector que interprete como vea me encantó.
Deseando leer más de Martin, pero a saber cuando. Acabaré Danza de dragones cuando se anuncie la publicación del siguiente.
Deseando leer más de Martin, pero a saber cuando. Acabaré Danza de dragones cuando se anuncie la publicación del siguiente.
This was not the book I thought it was going to be. I received this as a gift and finally got round to picking it up. To my surprise 'Fire and Blood' is written as if it is a historical text. That in itself, is a very interesting idea. In saying that, this was a very dense and dry read. I ended up listening to the audiobook as I read. There were some stories I really enjoyed (Ageon I, Jaehaerys I and parts of Ageon III). There were very interesting and compelling characters within this book (I was very invested in Jaehaerys and Alysanne - they were by far my favourites). Lots of death and dragons. The parts I enjoyed were exciting and in some cases I couldn't put the book down. However, the last 30% of the book was a bit of a struggle to get through (I considered DNF'ing it). But I am glad I didn't as I found some more enjoyable stories amongst some that I couldn't have cared less about and I found particularly boring. Overall, I did enjoy most of 'Fire and Blood'.
Also, I have to mention Doug Wheatley's illustrations were incredibly captivating and beautiful.
Also, I have to mention Doug Wheatley's illustrations were incredibly captivating and beautiful.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I loved it, very uniqely written! The ending however was very sudden and seemed rushed.
Not as strong as Ice and Fire, characters weren't as developed or as compelling, but still fun.
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This as near non-fiction as a fiction book is woven, and I knew that going in. Therefore it was a long-term read for me (spanning 1.5 months) in contrast to the usual day or week for reading any book: a challenge for sure.
Definitely where to read if you want to know more about the Targaryens and I found myself VERY fond of many. The name repetitions in the family get a bit confusing but get more feasible as I got further in, while pulling up family trees from time to time.
Politics, disloyalty, perspectives, and greed will truly ruin any House from inside and out.
I love love loved Jaeherys I, Alysanne, Alyssa, Baelon, and Aegon III a LOT. I found it fanciful how much I adored Aegon III, and I want to read more. I can only hope we get boom 2. It was interesting to see how the Dance of the Dragons occurred and the loss of their dragons basically being a huge elephant in the room towards the balance in Westeros anyways. I knew what this novel would be going in, I got what I wanted out of it, due to the nature of how it was written and with sometimes two streams of opinions and hearsay, keep in mind this is only as ‘true’ as what we know about the history back in our old days, but in terms of Westeros.
Definitely where to read if you want to know more about the Targaryens and I found myself VERY fond of many. The name repetitions in the family get a bit confusing but get more feasible as I got further in, while pulling up family trees from time to time.
Politics, disloyalty, perspectives, and greed will truly ruin any House from inside and out.
More fun than I expected for a pretty dry history book, but I feel like it ended on a dud storyline. There was no saving any story coming at the heels of the Dance, but spending most of the last chapter describing the fall of the Lysene family felt a bit too self-indulgent even for GRRM tbh. Especially considering the fact that we'll probably never get part two so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯