Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin
is a must-read companion book to the A
Song of Ice and Fire series. The
events described in the book takes place 300-150 years before the events of A Game of Thrones, touches on the
doom of Valyria and the arrival of the first Targaryens at Westeros, and
chronicles the first 150 years of Targaryen reign, from Aegon I Targaryen, or
Aegon the Conqueror, to Aegon III Targaryen, and all the Targaryen Kings and
Queens in between. This book is the first volume of what will be the definitive
two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros, featuring more than eighty all-new illustrations by artist Doug
Wheatley (No word yet on when we can expect volume 2).
As recorded by Archmeaster Gyldayn, the reader is privy to fact, rumour
and speculation of the great Targaryen events in history. While Archmaester Gyldayn presents
himself as an unbiased scribe, he is rather quite biased in his loyalty to the
Targaryens and his disregard for sources outside of the Maesters’
recordings. It is up to the reader to
decide who and what to believe.
While giving
greater detail on events ASOIAF
readers still ponder about, Martin leaves the question open just enough to
encourage further speculation. On
certain events I would have appreciated certainty, though, such as what was in
the letter Dorne presented to Aegon I to end their conflict? Did they have his love, Rhaenys, still alive
after the fall of Meraxes? Did they
threaten to torture her if he continued his pursuit of Dorne, or offer to
mercy-kill her if he left them be? Why
did Aegon immediately fly to Dragonstone?!
Was Rhaenys there, dead or dying?
Did the Martells steal something from Dragonstone (such as information
on how to tame, breed or kill dragons? Or dragon eggs? Or Dragonbinder, the
dragonhorn?), and Aegon went to verify their claims? Alas, all we know is that Aegon read a letter
from Dorne upon the iron throne which affected him to the point of clenching
his hand so tightly that the throne cut him open; he burned the letter, mounted
Balerion and flew to Dragonstone. The
next day he accepted Dorne’s terms of peace.
I understand though, that since Aegon never shared the content of the
letter with another, Archmaester Gyldayn couldn’t possibly know. My hope is that someone in Dorne still knows
the tale and can share it before the conclusion of ASOIAF.
 |
| Aegon The Conqueror parading on Balerion The Black Dread |
We learn
more about Aegon’s Conquest than we knew before, we discover the competition
and strife between Aegon’s heirs, the reign of Maegor the cruel, the Targaryen
civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons and much more. We find out more about what happened to the
Princess Aerea, who likely visited Valyria after the doom, on the back of
Balerion the Black Dread. We discover
how three dragon eggs came to be in Essos, which eggs would play a pivotal role
some 300 years later in the life of the exiled dragon queen, Daenaerys
Targaryen. We discover what Jaehaerys I
did differently to his predecessors to get the Faith and the faithful to tolerate,
if not accept the Targaryen tradition of marriage of brother to sister, cousin
to cousin, niece to uncle and the like.
 |
| Jaehaerys I and Good Queen Alysanne |
To my mind
(thus far) the best rulers of the Seven Kingdoms were King Jaehaerys and Good
Queen Alysanne. King since the age of 14,
Jaehaerys was wise beyond his years and a fair but fierce ruler. Under the reign of Jaehaerys, Westeros knew
its longest period of peace in history.
Jaehaerys and Alysanne truly cared about the lords, ladies and smallfolk
of the Seven Kingdoms and often held court to hear the concerns of their
people. What a team these two made! Alysanne even held women’s courts where she
heard the worries and woes of the women.
It was at Good Queen Alysanne’s urging that Jaehaerys abolished the
right to the first night, whereby lords could claim maidens on their wedding
nights, and many others known as Queen Alysanne’s Laws. Queen Alysanne was also a fierce supporter of
the Night’s Watch and ensured that Jaehaerys gifted them with more lands and
made sure that they had enough men to man the Wall. King Jaehaerys also set about making King’s
Landing a cleaner, more sanitary city, and building roads to and from other
cities. Fire and Blood does a remarkable job of allowing the reader to
experience the expansion and world-building of Westeros as we journey with the
Targaryens from the humble beginnings of King’s Landing to the building of the
Red Keep, Maegor’s Holdfast and the Dragonpit.
While the book doesn’t
capture the tone of the A Song of Ice and
Fire novels, if read with the mindset that the book is a recollection of
historical events, it is no less gripping.
I thoroughly enjoyed this look into the past trials and tribulations of
House Targaryen and found myself deeply emotionally invested, and even more
disappointed in the fall of the dynasty and the aftermath of Robert’s Rebellion. While it is no The Winds of Winter, it
will surely tide me over until then… or at least until Volume 2, which I look
forward to very much. I would actually also
very much enjoy such a chronicle of the history of House Stark! The glimpses we
got of Starks of old were most fascinating indeed…
Product Information:
Title: Fire and Blood
Title: Fire and Blood
Series: Companion book to George R.R
Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series
Author: George R.R Martin
Publisher: Bantam Books
Year: 2018
Pages: 736
ISBN-10: 1481427172
ISBN-13: 978-1481427173
ASIN: B00EB9Z8XU
