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A review by yevolem
Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin
5.0
Fire and Blood is a history of House Targaryen from Aegon the Conqueror to Aegon III, roughly 0-136 AC, which covers the first seven of the seventeen Targaryen kings. I only found two of the kings to have lived admirable lives full of accomplishment. Aegon I for being the Conqueror and Jaehaerys I for being everything that a king ought to be. The latter is arguably the best ruler the Seven Kingdoms has ever had. He had his flaws, but everyone else had far many more that were much worse. The other five were enjoyable to read for what a mess they were. The Targaryens had already been in Westeros for a century before Aegon conquered, and that's briefly detailed. A Game of Thrones begins in 297 AC and with the lives of ten more kings to chronicle there could easily be a second volume of similar length. This is a fix-up novel that incorporates and expands on previously published stories, though most of it is new content. The latter half of the book forms the basis for the The House of the Dragon TV series. If I didn't know otherwise I would’ve thought it was all originally written at the same time.
This is a historical overview rather than a narrative driven novel. A notable feature of this style is that lives can be written about without any concern for their narrative importance because there aren’t any point of view characters. It doesn’t matter who dies, the world continues on without them, as does the story. As ought to be expected it's far more fast paced than the A Song of Ice and Fire novels that take place over a few years while this covers closer to a century and a half. There's a huge cast of characters that constantly changes. There's a lot of death, far more than in the main series, and many of the most powerful and influential characters die in sudden and unexpected ways. Much of it's because of conflict, though there's a lot of accidental deaths as well. Some accidental deaths include falling off a horse, slipping in the mud, climbing stairs, a burst appendix, and choking to death on bacon. Death doesn't discriminate, even for the Targaryens, who on the whole were far crazier and less competent than I expected. So many lives are nasty, brutish, and short. There’s so much gelding. Happy, joyous, and glorious times are depicted, but the focus is decidedly on misery, malice, and massacres.
I had been putting this off for a long time because I had doubts whether I'd enjoy it. I wouldn't want this to be the norm for a book series and I don't know if it could stand by itself, but I think it's an extraordinary supplement. Fans who are interested in expanding their view of House Targaryen’s history and its context within A Song of Ice and Fire will find exactly that. My frame of reference for Daenerys has entirely changed. Although I'd prefer that the main series be finished first, I'd also be happy to receive more in this style as well if it's more of this or nothing at all.
This is a historical overview rather than a narrative driven novel. A notable feature of this style is that lives can be written about without any concern for their narrative importance because there aren’t any point of view characters. It doesn’t matter who dies, the world continues on without them, as does the story. As ought to be expected it's far more fast paced than the A Song of Ice and Fire novels that take place over a few years while this covers closer to a century and a half. There's a huge cast of characters that constantly changes. There's a lot of death, far more than in the main series, and many of the most powerful and influential characters die in sudden and unexpected ways. Much of it's because of conflict, though there's a lot of accidental deaths as well. Some accidental deaths include falling off a horse, slipping in the mud, climbing stairs, a burst appendix, and choking to death on bacon. Death doesn't discriminate, even for the Targaryens, who on the whole were far crazier and less competent than I expected. So many lives are nasty, brutish, and short. There’s so much gelding. Happy, joyous, and glorious times are depicted, but the focus is decidedly on misery, malice, and massacres.
I had been putting this off for a long time because I had doubts whether I'd enjoy it. I wouldn't want this to be the norm for a book series and I don't know if it could stand by itself, but I think it's an extraordinary supplement. Fans who are interested in expanding their view of House Targaryen’s history and its context within A Song of Ice and Fire will find exactly that. My frame of reference for Daenerys has entirely changed. Although I'd prefer that the main series be finished first, I'd also be happy to receive more in this style as well if it's more of this or nothing at all.