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Fire & Blood (HBO Tie-in Edition)
- 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 26 hrs and 24 mins
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Fire & Blood (HBO Tie-in Edition)
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Publisher's Summary
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work, the inspiration for HBO’s upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon
“The thrill of Fire & Blood is the thrill of all Martin’s fantasy work: familiar myths debunked, the whole trope table flipped.”—Entertainment Weekly
Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & 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.
What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? 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—including five all-new illustrations exclusive to this edition. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.
With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.
Includes a bonus PDF of illustrations from the book
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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What the critics say
“A masterpiece of popular historical fiction.” (The Sunday Times)
“[Fire & Blood] explores the dragon-fueled secrets upon which the current saga is built." (Hollywood Reporter)
“[There are] treasures hidden in this new Targaryen history.” (Vanity Fair)
"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)
“The saga is a rich and dark one, full of both the title’s promised elements....It’s hard not to thrill to the descriptions of dragons engaging in airborne combat, or the dilemma of whether defeated rulers should ‘bend the knee,’ ‘take the black’ and join the Night’s Watch, or simply meet an inventive and horrible end.” (The Guardian)
What listeners say about Fire & Blood (HBO Tie-in Edition)
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Brandon
- 2023-02-16
It's worth the slow start
Simon Vance is perfect as the narrator. I wish the show HOTD would've started a bit earlier in the timeline. If you find the beginning boring or really dislike the Targaryens like me, try to stick with it a little longer there's some great stuff later on. Not as good as asoiaf but a good, if a little rushed, backstory to the rulers of Westeros.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Kitty Huebner
- 2020-02-23
fantastic!
I absolutely loved this book. loved it enough that I'm currently on my second listen. Simon Vance is a wonderful narrator with a voice that's really soothing.
I am eagerly awaiting volume 2!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Danny
- 2022-10-20
Absolutely Fantastic
I loved it. After suffering through the first hour, maybe two the reading VASTLY improved.
Amazing
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jetsam42
- 2024-08-25
written like an anthology, it still reads like a story
There's a lot to follow through this collection of historical tellings. Some things repeat and some only seem to because the character names are reused. However the more you listen then more you can piece together and he rest is left to the imagination of the reader as these are "just the facts" from just a few perspectives.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Langer MD
- 2018-12-15
Quite good history of the Targaryens
This is more a genealogy and does not live up to Martin's work in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Interesting for certain and it is nice to get into the Westerosi world again, but the continuation of his other (classic) series is awaited
I miss Dotrice, though Vance is excellent. This book rates 7.5 stars out of 10.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mog
- 2022-08-22
Are we maesters now?!
It was a fun semi-tabloid historical recount of the 7 kingdoms and how they came to be while under the rule of the house Targaeryan(?)
Some may not enjoy this one as much as the other George R. R. Martin GoT books because it's written like a history book rather than a novel, but I found it to be all the more interesting for it!
Simon Vance gave a wonderful performance as the maester who is supposed to have written all the historical events in the book and really made me feel like I was studying some incredibly magical and frankly bloody violent history, postmarked with magic and betrayal.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 2019-07-11
Really enjoyable
I was fascinated by the Targaryens and their dragons so I really liked this book however it is written like a history text book so if that’s not your thing you might not like it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mihalis
- 2022-11-09
Fascinating
Brilliantly performed. The work itself is intriguing, moving, and (usually) gripping. I only wish we could spend more time with these characters!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nathalie McKean
- 2022-12-16
Great book for HOD fans
Amazing stories of the Targaryen lineage from Aegon conqueror to Aegon 3.
Tons of action and drama that covers before and after HOD. Only hard part is to follow the many characters of each succession. Targaryens all use the same names for their children.
Wish it continued or there was a second novel that leads up to the mad king. I want to learn more about their history!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Customer
- 2023-01-26
Simon Vance nails it
Vance superbly narrates the story in character, and very much comes across as a learned maester teaching us, the listener, about the Targaryen dynasty. The immersive narration, compounded by Martin’s impressive as always prose, makes this a must-have for any reader vested in the lore. I’ve listened to this book every day for the better part of a month, and it’s been an absolute pleasure.
Buyer beware, this book is NOT a mainline ASOIAF novel, it is not billed as such, nor advertised as such. Other reviews mention they found this “boring”, and it is in large part due to wrong expectations. This has always been billed as a “fake history” book, and in that, it succeeds in spades, being both entertaining and informative on the lore of the world.
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