Winter Reads: Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin

What I hate about living in small town is that my local Walmart has an extremely small book section. However, the store does normally get in the novels by popular authors, so I had my hopes that the massive book Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin would be there. Well, I was disappointed when the book didn't come in stock last November. Due to the holidays and a family emergency, I had completely forgotten about the novel until I stumbled upon it at the local library.

Fire & Blood is volume one of two in the History of the Targaryen Kings of Westeros, which is set 300 years before A Game of Thrones (a.k.a. - A Song of Ice and Fire series).

At over 700 pages, Fire & Blood is written like a history book with George R.R. Martin telling us about all the past Targaryen kings and queens, as well as all the dragons that once ruled across the lands. It begins with Aegon the Conqueror, the creator of the Iron Throne and takes you to the Dance of the Dragons.

The book features gorgeous illustrations by Doug Wheatley!

Final Thoughts

I've been a big of HBO's Game of Thrones ever since I watched the very first episode, but to this day I have never read any of the books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, though I do own all five books. Being a fan, naturally, I wanted to read Fire & Blood and, luckily, my local library had it.

I'm not going to explain all the plots in this novel, as there are way too many characters and situations to describe. All the book is is the history of the Targaryens, which the author chronicles the family line from Ageon I to Ageon III.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Fire & Blood. Though I would like to warn readers that it's a slow read. There are many boring parts, and I hate to admit this, but I almost quit reading the book several times. Nevertheless, I would reopen the book and continued reading. Don't get me wrong, Fire & Blood is well written with beautiful illustrations throughout, and I do recommend it to other Game of Thrones fans; just don't expect it to be an incredible read.