Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin

Centuries before A Game of Thrones, an even greater game began, one that set the skies alight with dragon flame and saw the Seven Kingdoms turned to ash. 

So began the Targaryens’ bloody rule, with fire and blood. Setting brother against brother, mother against daughter, and dragon against dragon.

Chronicled by a learned maester of the Citadel, this thrilling and bloody history of Westeros tells the story of where the battle for the Iron Throne began…

---

I’m a hug fan of George R. R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire that inspired the series A Game of Thrones.  Having first discovered these novels while at university (which is longer ago than I care to admit), I can also claim to have liked them before they were “cool”.  I really hope that the series continues, although I don’t believe that readers have any right to expect or demand anything of an author. 

I’ve been intrigued by Fire and Blood (the inspiration behind the series House of the Dragon, which I’ve not seen) since it’s publication in 2018, and I’ve finally got around to reading it.  This works as something of a prequel novel to A Song of Ice and Fire, charting the history of House Targaryen from their arrival in Westeros some 300 years or so prior to those events.  What I hadn’t realised is that it is not, despite being over 700 pages long, a full history of Targaryen rule.  It charts the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror and the unification of Westeros.  But it only covers 150 years or so, long before the events that see Robert Baratheon claim the Iron Throne.  The history is interesting, but as we’ve seen the rise of House Targaryen, I’d also like to see their fall. 

Having said that, the period that is covered is fascinating and owes something to British history in my mind.  When the Targaryen’s arrive, Westeros is a fragmented land with many self-proclaimed kings, and the unification is not straightforward as some choose to submit while others declare war.  It’s a bold move, given that the Targaryens have dragons, and these battles have a predictable outcome in most cases, although I’ll give a shout out to Dorne who never submit!  Even following the unification, there are times of peace, but also times of upset and rebellion – the Targaryen’s rule is not straightforward once they establish themselves and there’s no shortage of betrayals and conspiracies to contend with. 

If this all sounds like a lot of men waving their *ahem* swords around, fear not – the women in this novel are as brilliantly realised and often as fierce as the men and I love that there are strong women represented here.  Some ride dragons, some captain their own ships, some fight, and some wield their influence as you’d hope, bringing into law acts that improve the lives of all women, not just those who are born into the wealthier families of Westeros.  GRRM doesn’t give them true equality, however, and there are still questions of whether women are fit to rule and whether an older sister’s claim to the throne should outweigh that of a younger, male sibling – a question that starts a war in the novel as the two opposing views come up against each other. 

I think it’s interesting that GRRM has chosen to write this in a narrative non-fiction style rather than as a typical novel.  It’s presented as having been written by Archmaester Gyldayn, using a variety of sources, some of which are more reliable than others.  It feels authentic as an historical account – there are things that aren’t fully known about an individual’s personal motivation or the things that happen behind closed doors, although the Archmaester is happy to speculate in those cases, and there are conflicting reports of some events.  This does mean that the reader is a little removed from the action in this novel, although that shouldn’t suggest that it’s any less brutal in the telling – Fire and Blood very much lives up to its name.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of in the novel and I found this to be a struggle in places.  There is some similarity in names such as Aegon and Aemon, and those names are repeated as the later generations choose to honour their forebears in naming their own children.  This also isn’t helped in the way in which the Targaryens often marry brother to sister when trying to keep track of who’s who and how they’re related.  There is a family tree included, but it wasn’t that easy to interpret in my Kindle edition given how extensive it is.  This is probably clearer in the physical copy.

So, as well as waiting for the next instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire, I’d also really like a follow on to this novel, charting the period between where Fire and Blood ends and where A Game of Thrones begins.  I think that if you’re a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire and are interested in the backstory then you’ll enjoy this, despite the different narrative style – I found it fascinating.