Book Review: Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin

‘Fire and Blood’ by George R. R. Martin was published in 2018, after the ending of the ‘Game Of Thrones’ TV series, which boosted the popularity of the series exponentially.

While I was aware of the acclaim of the series, it took me years to finally watch it, and due to a variety of circumstances, I only watched the first series of the show, and that was years before I opened this book.

While a friend of mine had been praising the ‘Game Of Thrones’ series, as well as the series, ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’, it still took an age for me to finally get around to these books. I’d argue it was the sheer heft of the books, however, part of it was simply my penchant for mood reading, and immediate gratification.

I will admit that, while I own a physical copy of ‘Fire and Blood’, I read the entire book in an audio format, due to how small the font is. If you struggle with your eyesight, you might be better getting a large-font version of this series, since it is written in a much smaller font than the standard 12 pt one usually encounters in fiction.

As of the time of typing this book review, I am yet to read ‘A Song Of Ice and Fire’, and while I intend to read the series via e-books and audiobooks in the future, I still feel I had a lot to say.

Despite the tone of this book seeming more like a sardonic history lecture, which the reader has been transported into, particularly through the style of narration as demonstrated by Simon Vance, the man behind the audio, I found myself immersed in this history, but not as if I were there, as if I was a student learning at my desk. Most of this is due to when the testaments of varying characters such as Mushroom, are questioned for their validity, and compared to other anecdotes and testaments of other characters in the story who recorded their thoughts and feelings.

I found myself weeping during this book, which, to be honest, took me very much by surprise. I had been warned by my friends, long before even daring to open the book, that George R. R. Martin is renowned for his killing of fan-favourites, and never to get too attached. In my defense, I hadn’t even realised I was so attached to one of the characters. Which was it? The beautiful, she-dragon, Dreamfyre, a blue dragon with silver markings, and first bonded with the reclusive twelve-year-old Princess Rhaena Targaryen, a woman who seemed to prefer the company of other women, and took and coveted her favorites. I hadn’t considered how much I may have cared about the scaled companions of the Targaryen family, until her second rider, Queen Helaena, perished, and she supposedly wrenched free of two of the four chains that bound her within the dragon pit of Kings’ Landing. I knew my heart was going to break if something ill befell her during the events of the book. Dreamfyre seemed to be similar to her original rider, Rhaena, whom held her riders in high esteeem.

Perhaps it was my relating to the childhood of Princess Rhaena, and how she seemed to be shier than her siblings, until she finally mounted Dreamfyre, and projecting onto both the princess and her dragon, but Dreamfyre’s death and subsequent treatment had me in bits. It had me dreading falling in love with characters during the events of the main series. How could I be so dismayed over the felling of a dragon if ‘Fire and Blood’ was almost written like a textbook, or a lecture, with a detacted, critical, and reflective air to it, as opposed to an immersive, heavily-detailed prose with events happening to the characters we follow in quick-fire succession.

I knew I was looking forward to getting a real taste of all the pain George R. R. Martin was going to throw my way, particularly with the Stark family and their wolves, since the wolves were, in no way, guaranteed to survive, and my love of anything even remotely resembling a dog outweighs that of the dragons that we didn’t get to know much about, just their innocently-given names, their fierce bonds, and their grizzly ends.

Having finished, ‘Fire and Blood’, I very much look forward to reading ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, although, I may come to regret this sentiment as I’m heartbroken by character deaths. However, I must say, George R. R. Martin is acclaimed for his work for a reason, it truly was a fantastic reading experience, unique in its form and structure.