Fire and Blood Book Review

Rawr Reader,

Woah, where has the time gone? It's been five months! Hi! Hello! It is me. I am back.

I have had a very love-hate relationship with this book. I was interested in reading this a couple years ago—not long after it was released, but dropped it because I found it boring. 

BUT THEN they decided to make a prequel on HBO and while I have a very strong opinion of how Game of Thrones (the TV series) ended—because who didn't—I gave it a chance despite my better judgment and man oh man, I missed Westeros (GRRM Westeros, not so much Benioff and Weiss Westeros).

I decided to give Fire and Blood another shot and long story short (impossible with GRRM... ((~but we love it~)) ), WHAT. A. TREAT.

Due to the surfeit of names and convenience of a quick search in an ebook, I read this both both in physical form and through Kindle, which is a first time for me but something I felt was necessary and I would recommend to others. (Along with reading with a map of Westeros open. It really helps you ground yourself as the characters travel.)

P.S. Please don't ask me how many times I borrowed the ebook from the library.

>__>

Without further ado, let's jump in!

The synopsis of Fire and Blood is provided by trusty Goodreads (by the way, anyone else not totally loving this partially renovated Goodreads?):

Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen--the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria--took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & 

                                                                   Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the 

Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel's worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty-five black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley--including five illustrations exclusive to the trade paperback edition. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.

With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.

Reference:

   Publishers announced we would be receiving another George R.R. Martin masterpiece.
   Could it be?... Book Six in the coveted and acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series?!?!

   No. Hahahaaa we got you!

   It will instead take place nearly 300 years before the events of A Game of Thrones. 

   Yes, I was as beguiled then dismayed as the rest of the world. 

   And it's insane when I realize, I haven't done a review about Westeros since A Storm of Swords back in 2013, nearly TEN years ago. Time is a-flying~~

Review:

   Fire and Blood stretches back 300 years before A Song of Ice and Fire begins so it's safe to say there will be a lot of ground to cover, beginning with six generations before Aegon the Conqueror. While not an extensive history, Martin offers readers the Targaryen genealogy as far back as twelve years before the mystical migration from Valyria to Dragonstone (roughly 130 BC—Before the Conquest).

   This is only a warm-up to the events that follow. Fire and Blood documents the Targaryens as they fight to establish and secure their rule over the "Seven" Kingdoms of Westeros. They often clash with the great and smaller Houses of Westeros as they are tested time and time again to their right to rule. Not only for politics, they also fight religious sects and foreign threats and epidemics. Over the generations we'll meet Houses from as far north as the Wall to down near the Arbor in the southwest corner. Those familiar with Westeros will revisit or learn about how the Kingsroad was formed, how certain castles on the Wall were given their names and had been constructed, and of course, the creation of the Dragonpit and the capital city: King's Landing.

   Now this is a major factor which I have seen be its greatest strength or its greatest weakness. This novel reads as a history text, with wars and battles and celebrations and births and deaths galore. And plenty . . . plenty of characters to make this world feel larger than the book. I've seen many reviews where this is a deal breaker or where the heart of the story is completely sapped out because of the fact. But don't be dismayed, in true Martin fashion, there are still scandals, assassinations, kidnappings, murders, and tragedies that strike out the very names we become attached to. While I wrote down the names as I was introduced to a new character, Martin often explains who is who and how they're related to someone else in the text. Additionally, the format of the novel doesn't detract from the humor and wit of our scribes, who detail and source their accounts from others who directly or indirectly witnessed the events. But what is history but the stories that have been approved by the ruling country and its governments? Here we are met with unreliable sources and even with accounts being openly ambiguous and met with much debate. One of my favorite aspects of this tale was the fact that there were times people disappeared and there was never an answer given as to why, or deaths occurred and it was unclear if it had been one factor or another.

   All of this done with the magic of Martin's mastery of storytelling. In 700 pages, I rarely found myself unable to stay hooked to the saga, which stops about 150 years after Aegon's Conquest (shortly after the infamous Dance of Dragons—a pivotal point in Westerosi history for the Targaryen House and name). Fire and Blood is only the first part to their story in Westeros, with the second unpublished part I believe meant to fill in the gaps between the Dance of Dragons up until Robert's Rebellion, roughly another 150 years later. (I would love to read more about Aemon Targaryen, the last known Targaryen in Westeros at the start of A Song of Ice and Fire).

   If you can commit to reading a gripping story, then the pages will fly. It took me over a month, a bit longer than normal to read a GRRM novel, since I enjoyed making a Targaryen family tree along with the list of names, but you could easily read this in a few days or a few weeks, depending on your reading speed rate and free time. 

   Upon completing Fire and Blood (the first season of HBO'S House of the Dragon has already been finished for about a month), and I can tell you episodes 1-10—the amount of pages in the book that that time period covers—is about 10-20 pages. When I caught up with where the season ended, I laughed. It's insane, although entirely necessary, for the showrunners to have filled in much of the plotlines—with even the major time jumps between episodes not making much of a dent in the book. It's a given there will be differences from the book to the show, with certain people and events occurring differently than in the text, but something I really appreciated from the show was its illumination of ambiguities in the text, ambiguities due to complete mystery or different accounts contradicting the same event. I'm not sure where the show will decide to end—strictly following the Dance of the Dragons or going all the way to Robert's Rebellion (unlikely but I'd still watch it), however regardless, the show has plenty to work off of.

   Now this is Westeros so there are dragons. And dragons in their peak in Westerosi history. We meet Balerion and Vhagar and Vermithor and Caraxes, along with many minor dragons I'm sure we'll meet soon in the show: Sheepstealer, Stormcloud, Silverwing and more. Dragons are what made the Targaryens the rulers of Westeros. They are as colorful and charismatic and temperamental as their riders. They also serve as red herrings and surprises as their human counterparts. But, I warn you now, don't get too attached. 

   I won't reveal any spoilers, but because one of the things I love about Martin are the people he gives life to, I will list a few of my favorite characters to look out for, for good or for bad:

   Elissa Farman

   Aegon I Targaryen, Aegon the Conqueror

   Corlys Velaryon

   Racallio Ryndoon

   Aerea Targaryen

   Benjicot Blackwood

   Alyn Velaryon

   This list could have another twenty names. These are just some of my favorites. There are plenty others I enjoyed reading about and following on their adventures. 

   Safe to say, I have little to nothing to complain about of Fire and Blood. Only that I now need to wait for another GRRM series to be completed.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Quote:

"The world is like that— incomprehensible and full of surprises."

—Jorge Amado

My Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7170636?ref=nav_profile_l

Next To Read: 

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

Spoilers:

    Can I start off by saying I wrote down another list while reading, the list of unanswered mysteries of Westeros, and I ended with about 22 questions GRRM didn't or couldn't answer. Some of my top questions: What was in the letter that the Dornish Prince Nymor sent to Aegon I? Where did Aerea Targaryen go with Balerion for a year? Who killed the Rogares brothers a day apart from one another, across the sea from one another? Was that Elissa Farman's ship Corlys Velaryon saw in Asshai?

   I think that last one is one I feel if given the chance, I'd ask GRRM to answer for me. I feel the showrunners of Game of Thrones read about Elissa's character and tried to make Arya into that. I love Arya, but Elissa is a force to be reckoned with. Arya can be anyone she wants, let Elissa be the fearless sea adventurer.

   You know what, scratch that. My question to GRRM would be: are the three eggs Elissa stole from Dragonstone the same three dragon eggs Daenerys's receives three hundred years later? I mean, it can't be coincidence right??

   Also (I forget the page), but the scribes make a point to note how Viserys' rule was one of the best reigns in Westerosi history, but personally I found Aegon the Conqueror and Jaehaerys Targaryen's rules much more interesting and beneficial to the kingdom than Viserys' rule. I felt all he did was have children and sow the seeds for future war by his inaction. Honestly I was okay with and it made sense that there was such little time spent in the novel devoted to his rule. As for his television counterpart, Paddy Considine did a phenomenal interpretation. I hope he wins awards for his role. All the awards. Every single one he's nominated for. In fact, the book counterpart deeply disappointed me (since at this time I had nearly finished the show when I reached Viserys in the book, so TV Viserys was my standard). Along with Rhaenyra. Book wise, disappointingly. Ironically, I felt the Dance of Dragons would better suit Princess Rhaena or Princess Rhaenys—both much stronger characters than Rhaenyra.

   Another few people I think the show added depth and better illumination to was Daemon and Aemond (who someone online rightly noted the anagram of the names and now I can't unsee it—now neither can you, you're welcome~~). Matt Smith did a phenomenal job as Daemon. It wasn't only how he was written. Smith knows how to play and exceed at playing a gray character and use charms and vices to their advantage to the benefit of the audience. However it was in part to the writing that Aemond is a much more complex character in the show than in the novel. In fact, Aemond was one of my favorite characters of the show. Honestly, I think he gets way too much hate. There were moments he tried to bond with his family and they teased, bullied, or ostracized him. Aemond lacked proper emotional support and add the stress of being in the royal household—with his unstable mother and power-hungry grandfather—they turned him into a villain. That being said, the showdown between uncle and nephew will be one of the ages. 

    Honorable shout out to Corlys Velaryon though. He survived everything and was still a man of integrity and character. I didn't expect to love him as much as I did.

    I am super happy they made a show though because like I mentioned earlier, I tried reading this twice before and gave up both times. But this has been one of my favorite reads of the year. I only wish Martin would release the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire. I read somewhere once that a reader felt Martin's writing wasn't that remarkable, but I never felt that way. There was actually a bit of humor in the accounts that I don't quite remember from A Song of Ice and Fire. 

    Dragons were to be expected in Fire and Blood and I loved every appearance they made. Their downfall, due to the ambitions of man, was hard to swallow. Almost more than some of the people. I attribute that to the fact that I know their end. By Daenerys's time, they are extinct, and it's heartbreaking to know such powerful, beautiful creatures will crumble much like the Targaryen name.

    The Winds of Winter and Blood and Fire—or whatever name is given to part 2, cannot come soon enough.

Until Next Time,

Nicole Ciel

P.S. More favorite characters:
Jaehaerys Targaryen, "The Old King," "The Conciliator"

Alysanne Targaryen, "Good Queen Alysanne"

Queen Rhaenys Targaryen

Visenya Targaryen

Aemon Targaryen

Baelon Targaryen, "Baelon the Brave," "The Spring Prince," "The Silver Fool"

Daemon Targaryen

Princess Rhaenys Velaryon

Baela Targaryen

Rhaena Targaryen

Princess Meria Martell of Dorne, "The Yellow Toad of Dorne"

Torrhen Stark, "The King Who Knelt"

Rogar Baratheon

Septon Barth, Hand to Jaehaerys

Cregan Stark

Black Aly

Lord Marq Farman

Nettles

Maester Norren

Addam Velaryon

Samantha Hightower, "Lady Sam"

Grand Maester Orwyle

Thaddeus Rowan

Viserys II Targaryen

Pate the Woodstock

Lord of Barrowton

Prince Nymor of Dorne

P.P.S. If only the men at the Great Council of 101 AC declared Rhaenys Queen . . .