Scan barcode
A review by hellsfire
The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones by Linda Antonsson, Elio M. García Jr., George R.R. Martin
3.0
My God, this took a LONG time to read. When I bought it, I was expecting something more along the lines of DK Publishing books. You know, pretty pictures with just enough info to make it interesting but that doesn't get bogged down with detail. This book was nothing like that.
Sure, it had plenty of beautiful illustrations, but it also had plenty of text. Lines and lines of text. It makes sense because in a way, it is a history book. It's just a history book of a fictional world.
In the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved reading about the beginning of Martin's world. But as time went on, it started to drag.
The reason it drags is despite all the text, once you hit pass the creation of the Iron Throne and the second or maybe third of the Targaryens, most of the characters are barely touched upon in any depth. Sure there's info about them and what they did, along with names, but I never get a feel for them. Speaking of names, both famous and non-famous people are named after famous people and it becomes confusing on who's who.
However, I think the biggest sin of this book is the fact that once you get to Robert's Rebellion, it stops. That was one of the things I was looking forward to. I wanted to know more about intricacies of that rebellion since it has to do with the stuff in the books. But the Maester just assumes we know everything since "it just happened." I assume that stuff will hopefully get explained in the books when we learn who's Jon Snow's parents are.
The book does pick up towards the end when you learn about the other lands that are only brushed upon in the books and in the show. Sadly, again it's all too brief.
It wasn't a bad book, but it did feel like I read one long wiki page. If there was less stuff crammed into it and more details on the intriguing things, this would have made one hell of a book.
Sure, it had plenty of beautiful illustrations, but it also had plenty of text. Lines and lines of text. It makes sense because in a way, it is a history book. It's just a history book of a fictional world.
In the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved reading about the beginning of Martin's world. But as time went on, it started to drag.
The reason it drags is despite all the text, once you hit pass the creation of the Iron Throne and the second or maybe third of the Targaryens, most of the characters are barely touched upon in any depth. Sure there's info about them and what they did, along with names, but I never get a feel for them. Speaking of names, both famous and non-famous people are named after famous people and it becomes confusing on who's who.
However, I think the biggest sin of this book is the fact that once you get to Robert's Rebellion, it stops. That was one of the things I was looking forward to. I wanted to know more about intricacies of that rebellion since it has to do with the stuff in the books. But the Maester just assumes we know everything since "it just happened." I assume that stuff will hopefully get explained in the books when we learn who's Jon Snow's parents are.
The book does pick up towards the end when you learn about the other lands that are only brushed upon in the books and in the show. Sadly, again it's all too brief.
It wasn't a bad book, but it did feel like I read one long wiki page. If there was less stuff crammed into it and more details on the intriguing things, this would have made one hell of a book.