A Song of Ice and Fire: FIRE AND BLOOD: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones (A Targaryen History) - George Martin - 9780008307738

<p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">Set centuries before the events in A Song of Ice and Fire, FIRE AND BLOOD is the definitive history of the Targaryens in Westeros as told by Archmaester Gyldayn, chronicling the conquest that united the Seven Kingdoms under Targaryen rule through to the Dance of the Dragons: the Targaryen civil war that nearly ended their dynasty forever.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work by the author of </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">A Song of Ice and Fire</span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">, the inspiration for HBO’s</span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;"> Game of Thrones.</span></p><p style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">With all the fire and fury fans have come to expect from internationally bestselling author George R.R. Martin, this is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros.</p><p style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">Centuries before the events of A</span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;"> Game of Thrones</span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">, House Targaryen – the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria – took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire and 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.</span></p><p style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons&#063; Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom&#063; What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes&#063; What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies&#063; 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.</p><p style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s T</span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">he History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire and Blood</span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;"> is the ultimate game of thrones, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"A masterpiece" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">SUNDAY TIMES</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"An epic take, viewed from soaring heights" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">DAILY MAIL</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"A feast of pure imagination" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">SFX</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"The sheer detail of the richly layered world [Martin] has created is astonishing, with narrative twists and turns aplenty" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">SUNDAY EXPRESS</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"Of those who work in the grand epic fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">TIME MAGAZINE</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"Colossal, staggering…Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">SFX</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"Martin’s style is so vivid that you will be hooked within a few pages" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">THE TIMES</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 1.13;">"I always expect the best from George R.R. Martin and he always delivers" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;color: #333333;font-family: Arial;font-size: 10pt;font-style: italic;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.13;">ROBERT JORDAN</span></p>