“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 “An absolutely irresistible, dragon-filled delight.”
—Bustle“[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.”
—The 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)
