A Song of Ice and Fire : Fire and Blood (The inspiration for HBO’s House of the Dragon TV tie-in edition): The inspiration for 2022's highly ... of epic fantasy classic GAME OF THRONES

大分以前だが、Game of Thronesのシリーズに一時期はまって、新巻が出るために購入して読んでいたが、内容は殆ど記憶にない。ただ、近年映像化され大人気であったと知り、再び興味が出てきたので、手始めにその世界を舞台にした本書を手に取ってみた。 本書には、ドラゴンを従えたTargaryen家の初代皇帝Aegon Iが、ウェスタロスを支配するところから始まり、7代目の皇帝のAegon IIIまでの約150年に亘り、Targaryen家の王族たちが繰り広げる骨肉の争いが、まるで本当の歴史のように描かれている。 登場するキャラクターが多くて、一人一人について深く描かれているわけではないので、登場人物への思い入れは余りないが、次から次へと思いもかけない事件が発生するため、飽きることなく最後まで楽しく読むことができた。このような物語を構築する作者の力量には本当に脱帽した。

本書は、Aegon the ConquerorからAegon III Dragonbaneまでの話。主に王位継承争いの内容が語られていて、クライマックスは the Dance of the Dragons。他の作品からも、大体の歴史は分かっていたけど、本書は詳しく書かれている。最後のAegon IIIのあたりは、ちょっとつまらないけど、the Dance of the Dragonsが与えた影響を示すためには必要なんでしょう。 いつものとおり、とにかく登場人物が多いので、地理と地名、そして誰がどこを治めているのかが頭に入ってないと、ついていけないかも。 あと、本書を読むと、GoTの映像版（HBO）のおかしな点がいろいろと明らかになってくる（エンターテインメント優先だからいいけど）。だからそこは区別して考えた方がいい。 予定では、本書ともう一冊出るはずだけど、その続編は未定。GoTの本編が優先でしょうね。

The book felt super rushed. Like reading a summation of non-ficton history. for GOT fans dying for the next book, I recommend. Slow reading though

期待した通りで楽しく読んでいます。

If you like A Song of Ice and Fire – and I’m talking about the novels rather than the TV series – and you want to learn more about the history of Westeros, you’ll love this book. It’s not written as a conventional novel, more as a narrative history. What I mean is that the ostensible narrator is not an omniscient GRR Martin but a master writing several centuries after the event and relying on several contemporary sources of dubious accuracy. If that doesn’t sound very exciting, don’t worry, there is plenty of excitement here. And plenty of action too, of the kind you associate with Game of Thrones: wars, conspiracies, betrayals, beheadings, poisonings going on all over Westeros, with additional dollops of violence and mayhem floating in from across the Narrow Sea. For those who find all this a bit grim and macho, GRR Martin is pretty good at putting women front and centre, so there are plenty of notable female characters, not just doing queenly things, but also doing “manly” things like exploring the seven seas (or however many seas there are in this world) and riding dragons. In fact, the major war in the centre of the novel hinges on the female right of accession to the Iron Throne, i.e. whether a younger brother’s claim trumps an older sister’s. It reminds me that I’m not keen on the Middle Ages really, and as a republican I’m not a big fan of kings and queens. However, I can see why so many fantasy novels are set in something that approximates to the European Middle Ages. Kings and queens, knights in shining armour, jousting and swordplay, men with longbows and crossbows. It’s all fertile ground for creating action-packed narratives and fully-rounded characters. Unlike GRR Martin, I’m not usually a great fan of illustrated novels, but in this case, the illustrations by Doug Wheatley are generally very good and do add a lot to the novel. We also get a list of reigns and dates and a Targaryen family tree, which is helpful if you get your Aegons mixed up with your Aemons. My only gripe about this edition is that there is no map. Yes, I can picture Westeros in my mind and there are maps in other volumes, but I’m sure there are some names of towns and regions that I haven’t come across before and it would be nice to know whereabouts they are. By the way, Fire and Blood begins with the Targaryen take over of Westeros, three hundred years before the TV series starts. In this volume we get about half-way through that period, so expect a sequel at some point. In this edition, as a bonus, you get a transcript of a conversation between GRR Martin and the mediaeval historian Dan Jones. It gives a fascinating insight into how the author first conceived of Westeros and how he developed this complex world. Apparently, it all started with a dream about the incident – which is very vivid in the TV series – when Bran discovers the direwolf pups. And at first, the author thought of that as a fit subject for a short story, not for a massive series of several doorstep sized novels. He also talks about his interest in history, and how the great thing about being a fantasy writer, rather than a historical novelist, is that you can take a historical event or artefact and then let your imagination go. As an example, he tells how a trip to Hadrian’s Wall led to the Westeros Wall. The author also hints at future Westeros novels, including a sequel to this one.

Crazy Book, Great story and Gory details. Makes you completely immersed in the world created by George RR Martin.

The book is great but the handling of the book could have been better. Arrived with a few bumps and bruises.

I am only part way through, but I am thoroughly enjoying the book. It is written in the style of a historian--narrating not from the perspective of the characters, but from what has been said over the years by various authors. I am enjoying getting to know characters spoken about but who were not an integral part of the Song of Ice and Fire series (particularly given they had passed away a long time ago by that point).

W kwestii estetyki mogę powiedzieć że okładka współgra z pozostałymi książkami z serii wydawnictwa Harper/Voyager. Herb Targaryenów na okładce jest "wybity" ponad poziom okładki oraz wraz z tytułem książki pięknie odbijają światło. W środku, poza właściwym tekstem, znajdują się ilustracje obrazujące opisywane wydarzenia. Co do treści, to należy pamiętać że narracyjnie różni się od książek głównej serii - w "Fire & Blood" mamy do czynienia z kroniką historyczną. Nie zmienia to faktu, że polecam ją każdemu fanowi twórczości Martina, czy też jego serialowych adaptacji - szczególnie tym którzy czekają na kolejny sezon "House of the Dragon". Książka dostarczona w doskonałym stanie, w ciągu 5 dni roboczych (zamówiona we wtorkowy wieczór - dostarczona w poniedziałek). Wysyłka z magazynu w Wielkiej Brytanii. Jeżeli dobrze posługujecie się językiem angielskim, to nie widzę powodu żeby przepłacać za dwu-częściową polską edycje, podczas gdy oryginał robi to taniej i w jednej książce.