Fire & Blood (HBO Tie-in Edition)

300 Years Before A Game of Thrones

By: George R. R. Martin

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 26 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work, the inspiration for HBO’s upcoming 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 all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley—including five all-new illustrations exclusive to this 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 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.

Includes a bonus PDF of illustrations from the book

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

“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

©2018 George R. R. Martin (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A masterpiece of popular historical fiction.” (The Sunday Times)

“[Fire & Blood] explores the dragon-fueled secrets upon which the current saga is built." (Hollywood Reporter)

“[There are] treasures hidden in this new Targaryen history.” (Vanity Fair)

"Martin has done it again.... [Fire & Blood is] a beautiful weaving of the wars, marriages, deaths, dragons, and politics that shape the world Martin has created, leaving the reader feeling like this is a true history rather than a piece of fantasy. This is a masterpiece of world-building.... Beyond Martin’s legions of fans, anyone with a taste for richly, even obsessively detailed historical fiction or fantasy about royalty will enjoy this extraordinary work.” (Booklist, starred review)

“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)

Hasty

so, my original review of this book was pretty hasty. After the first few chapters I was pretty sure he had just copy pasted a world of ice and fire (awoif). I stopped reading and gave a negative review. Then, I picked it up again.

Turns out it is not a copy paste job, it’s a readable westerosi history starting with the dragon lords. My favorite part of the book is the reign of Jaehaerys 1. He’s a really interesting character and I would be really happy if there was a spin-off book about him.

All in all this is actually a really cool book and gives a lot of background information that you didn’t even know you needed about the world of Westeros. Well done George. You have a sick mind though.

Reprint of existing material

About 3/4 of this work is simply copied from other works of his. Ive listened to this work twice before this book cane out. There are narrations on youtube, they are from another book already released. The only stories not covered are of duncan and egg, and the prequel to that, the mystery knight. All available on youtube.
Wish new work came out, but im very appreciative of jrr martin, grateful for his art. Just know what ur buying, this is more to support him, and share your appreciation.

Fire and blood - can’t wait for more!

This history of the Targaryen rule reads literally like a history book so hats off to GRRM for producing such a rich and heavily detailed backstory to the song of ice and fire series! I greatly look forward to the 2nd book which takes us up to the usurpers rebellion and then also the sixth book of the song of ice and fire.
This audible recording was very well read and kept me entertained on my long car rides.

Another GRRM Classic

Another GRRM Classic set to hold us over until he emerges from that isolated cabin with the much anticipated Winds of Winter, and eventually A Dream of Spring.

It's not the book we wanted, it's the book we got

Here, let em summarize:

The incestous Targaryens go to Westeros following the Doom of Valeria. They then have a couple hundred years of in-fighting while making generally bad decisions. Eventually, all their dragons are either killed or die off. The End.

This book is slow, boring, and worse than reading a Wikipedia article. Save your silver stags.

long tome about the Targaryan Dynasty before GoT

It's a bit of a slot but enjoyable and I think worth it. I recommend.

Not a good candidate for an audio book

I plan to buy the actual book so that I can get the pictures and skip around as I go through it. It’s not engaging as an audiobook.

A History of the Seven Kingdoms

I won't bore you with a review. It is History of Rome for ASOIAF. Excellent performance, great story, but it feels so incomplete, almost like GRRM finished a chapter and decided to publish it half complete.

I recommend it, but the ending just doesnt exist.

Fire & Blood

They say this is a thrilling history of the house Targaryen’s but what I expected was not a history lesson of so many names of Individuals with this book that seemed to go on forever. I’m not a detail history fan and never will be. You may enjoy it but I cannot say the same. I did finish the book but I will be more careful in my selection next time.

Delightful torture..

Love GRR! Yet. As enjoyable as this work of art is, decorated with intricate details and language that few writing works could dream of matching, that much more of questions of how this narrative connects to the main story and characters and the main plot were nagging the readers curiosity at the same time .. great read but torture at the same time...