Fire & Blood - A History of House Targaryen of Westeros: 300 Years Before A Game Of Thrones Dragons

I love it so much. Fire & Blood is Martin Unbound . . . and I couldn t put it down. . . . There s an addictive quality to the prose that s outright gossipy. . . . The obvious comparison here is J.R.R. Tolkien s The Silmarillion. . . . Writing centuries after the events he s describing, the Gyldayn voice complicates this game of thrones with a clash of perspectives and a storm of debatable facts. . . . Heavy stuff, but Fire & Blood flies. Entertainment Weekly

A brilliant book . . . vivid, memorable and personal. The Times

Lean and efficient and slyly seductive and instructive . . . The text is filled with such a wealth of incident and so many colorful characters.   Locus

The overall narrative of the book is wonderfully fluid. . . . Fire & Blood was a great surprise to me. I found myself becoming deeply emotionally invested in the Targaryens, thrilling when they achieved great victories and lamenting when they succumbed to their more idiotic desires. (And they have a lot of idiotic desires.) This book feels like A Song of Ice and Fire. And you know how I know? Because I want the next book right away.   Tordotcom

[There are] treasures hidden in this new Targaryen history. Vanity Fair

The world of ice and fire only gets more fascinating the more we learn about it. Mashable

Martin is still a powerfully gifted, inventive writer. . . . [Fire & Blood] has hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, ranging from the cruel fate of a jester named Tom Turnip to a dragon that, tellingly, refuses to venture beyond the Wall. . . . Fire & Blood is a lavish object, with charts, family trees, and stunning illustrations by comic book artist Doug Wheatley. . . . In this sense it fits into a venerable tradition, from J.R.R. Tolkien in his Silmarillion to Diana Gabaldon in her companion to the Outlander series. USA Today

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

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)