Fire & Blood Review
“On wings as black as pitch Balerion plunged through the night, and when the great towers of Harrenhal appeared beneath him, the dragon roared his fury and bathed them in black fire, shot through with swirls of red.”- George R. R. Martin, Fire & Blood.
“Fire & Blood” is a fantasy novel written by George R. R. Martin and illustrated by Doug Wheatley. It is a prequel to “A Game of Thrones” that chronicles the history of the Targaryen dynasty from two years Before Aegon’s Conquest and afterward through the regency of Aegon III. HBO Max’s “House of the Dragon” is based on this book.
In the “A Song of Ice and Fire” universe, “Fire & Blood” is considered a textbook. It is written by Archmaester Gyldayn from the Oldtown Citadel. He incorporates various written first and second-hand accounts from sources that survived from the periods. Archmaester Gyldayn is from the era of King Robert Baratheon, which is over 200 years after these events have taken place and ties into one of the most intriguing aspects of the book.
“Whereas Septon Eustace records the secrets of bedchamber and brothel in hushed, condemnations tones, Mushroom delights in the same, and his Testimony consists of little but ribald tales and gossip, piling stabbings, Poisonings, betrayals, seductions, and debaucheries one atop the other.” – George R. R. Martin, Fire & Blood.
“Fire & Blood” is an unreliable narrative. There are often multiple conflicting accounts of the way certain events unfolded and it is left up to the reader’s interpretation as to which account is the truth, if any of them at all. An example of this is Mushroom and Septon Eustace’s contrasting accounts of the circumstances surrounding Daemon’s exile from the court and Rhaenyra’s virginity. Eustance claims Prince Daemon seduced his niece but remained a virgin, while Mushroom claims that Rhaenyra was in love with Ser Criston Cole and Daemon took her virginity by teaching her lessons. While there is a lot of reading between the lines, “Fire & Blood” gives the readers a lot of information to work with, such as describing the characters' actions that had multiple eyewitnesses like Daemon giving Rhaenyra several gifts or him being spotted at court for over a year.
The chapters also cover different time periods and significant events that occur during them such as “Aegon’s Conquest” which covers how Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros with his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys. They describe the “Three Heads Had the Dragon — Governance Under King Aegon I” and detail how Aegon and his sisters were rulers and their policies.
Although it reads like a history textbook, “Fire & Blood” is still a very rich text with detailed imagery and provides subtle nuance to its characters. An example of this is the relationship between Visenya and Aegon. The text paints their marriage as being out of duty with Aegon spending more nights with Rhaenys than Visenya, but Visenya is very loyal to Aegon and persuades him to get better guards as he is vulnerable. In contrast, Rhaenys is viewed as closer to Aegon but it is also said she entertained other lovers. These complexities make the novel an interesting read to dissect.
Overall, I highly recommend “Fire & Blood” for fans of “A Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” as well as those looking to get into the series.
