#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - **The thrilling history of the
Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work, the inspiration for
HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series *House of the Dragon
"The thrill of Fire & Blood is the thrill of all Martin's fantasy
work: familiar myths debunked, the whole trope table
flipped."--Entertainment Weekly
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.
Praise for Fire & Blood
"A masterpiece of popular historical fiction."--The Sunday Times
"The saga is a rich and dark one, full of both the title's promised
elements. . . . It's hard not to thrill to the descriptions of dragons
engaging in airborne combat, or the dilemma of whether defeated rulers
should 'bend the knee, ' 'take the black' and join the Night's Watch, or
simply meet an inventive and horrible end."--The Guardian
