Linda AntonssonCritiques

Something of an illustrated republication of Fire & Blood, slightly reworded and somehow less dramatic. Useful refresher, anyway.

What do you call this book? A non-fiction fiction book? It reads very dry but I did enjoy large parts of it. Thais last season of the TV show has shown me that the show has no interest in developing character anymore. I read this to just get a better understanding of the world. It would be a great book to read just before the next novel... whenever that comes out.

This is my fave book in the ASOIF world.

هذا الكتاب هو التاريخ غير المروي للعالم الذي تدور فيه أحداث أغنية الجليد والنار ..
تاريخ يمتد عبر آلاف السنين على مساحة واسعة من أرض ليس لها أي وجود إلا في عقل جورج مارتن نفسه .. أو هذا ما نعرفه حتى الآن :-)

بالنسبة لقراءتي للكتاب فقد امتدت لعدة شهور بسبب طول الكتاب اولاً (1060 صفحة في نسخته الالكترونية) وبسبب لغته الانكليزية الصعبة نوعاً ما. وخلال كل صفحاته كان نفس السؤال يدور في رأسي دائماً : ما الفائدة من قراءة أحداث تاريخية حدثت منذ آلاف السنين في عالم خيالي غير موجود أصلاً ؟ فالكتاب ليس رواية متسلسلة ولا يحتوي على أي حبكة أو حوارات بل هو عبارة عن سرد تاريخي لأسماء أماكن وعوالم وشعوب وديانات ومخلوقات وملوك وحروب حدثت واختلف الرواة و"المايسترات" والرحالة في تدوينها .. ولم أجد أي اجابة للسؤال سوى "يابه هوه غير اكدر انزله للكتاب من ايدي !!"

نصيحتي لمن يريد أن يقرأ هذا الكتاب أن يحرص على ثلاثة أمور رئيسية: أن يكون مطلعاً بشكل ما على أحداث الرواية - أن يتصفح الكتاب وأمامه نسخة من الخريطة التي وفرها مارتن عن عالم الجليد والنار لكي يفهم علاقة الأحداث بالأماكن - أن لا يقرأ الكتاب بشكل متسلسل وأن يختار ما يعجبه من العناوين.

The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty Volume One is basically Fire & Blood Volume One but illustrated. One could say this was a money grab or that the previous book shouldn’t have been published and the material should have waited until quality illustrations like in this book were created or both could be true, it doesn’t matter. Of the two books, get The Rise of the Dragon for the simple fact that with the amazing illustrations the material is enhanced. But given the non-illustrated material is just a rehash from another book, I’m downgrading the rating of this book as a result to show my annoyance.½

As the recent success of the HBO series House of the Dragon has proved, the Game of Thrones world created by George R. R. Martin remains a thrilling enterprise. Martin's is one of the better-realised fantasy worlds, and it's a great place to spend some of your time.

Spend time, perhaps, but it's becoming increasingly doubtful whether it's where we should want to spend so much money. The Game of Thrones franchise – for it is now most definitely a franchise – seems increasingly committed to books like this one. The first disappointment for me with The Rise of the Dragon came pre-launch, when it was revealed the 'new' title wasn't Volume Two of the Fire and Blood history which proved surprisingly enjoyable back in 2018, charting the second half of the Targaryen dynasty, but instead a rehash of that Volume One, written in a more 'scholarly' style and with illustrations.

There are many problems with this. It means the book itself has less flavour than the gossipy Fire and Blood – which was also much more comprehensive about these events – and as the story has already been told (not only in Fire and Blood but in 2014's The World of Ice and Fire) there's far less freshness too. Important in-universe events are covered in single lines and with none of the insight or speculation beyond what an in-universe 'historian' would be able to glean. Consequently, there's none of the intrigue or storytelling which initially proved so attractive to us in Martin's books.

It's that initial attraction which is being so sorely tested among the fanbase. Contrary to the Stark words, we know winter isn't coming, and George R. R. Martin is not likely to ever release another novel in his main Song of Ice and Fire series. It's been more than a decade since the last book in the series, which itself had a troubled creation, and every fan has at some point come to accept this, however reluctantly or bitterly. Please point out any who still believe to your nearest government official, so it can be arranged for them to get the institutional treatment they need.

That bitterness can explode whenever Martin promises, bafflingly, that The Winds of Winter is indeed coming (something he's been saying for more than a decade). But as every fan has by this point built their armour up against this false hope, the real disappointment comes from issue like The Rise of the Dragon. An illustrated version of a story already released twice, a lauded and heavily-marketed side-project when the main story hasn't been – and never will be – completed, can only heighten the fanbase's cynicism, and might to some even feel exploitative. Of course, there's no obligation for us to buy The Rise of the Dragon, but its very existence – and prominence, in the absence of any major novel announcement – signals the increasingly corporate money-spinning of what was once a fandom but is now a franchise. My primary enjoyment from the book came from speculating on how the TV series House of the Dragon might, in years to come, adapt the Dance of the Dragons. But this only further shows how George R. R. Martin has allowed the story to slip out of his own hands.

La cosa impressionante sono i millenni di storia che sono stati concepiti e descritti, con dettagli e intrecci di vicende realistici. Ciascun episodio di questo vastissimo arco di tempo in questo vasto mondo potrebbe generare un dettaglio di vicende epico ed affascinante come è stato per il periodo che poi è stato approfondito nei romanzi più noti.

Part coffee-table picture book, part reference, part history, this is information on key houses and kings, mainly pulled out of Martin's other books, with a little bit of new material. A sort of quick reference to Westeros and its past.½

For fans only, and I'm rating it on that basis— if you're not already very into the novels and also a big nerd by nature (i.e. if you wouldn't read Dungeons and Dragons manuals for fun) then of course this kind of thing is just silly. And yeah, the writing is pretty uneven, as you'd expect from something that was put together in this way. But for me it's just a ton of fun, sketching in all the little corners of this massive backstory, creating and destroying a dozen mini-characters like virtual particles in every paragraph, and providing an excuse for lots of good solid fantasy illustration. I do wish there was more range of style in the illustrations (and that more of the artists knew how to make more than a few basic types of faces— there's a little too much California in the aristocracy) but I like that they spent some time on landscapes and scenes of daily life, not just battles. Writing it in character was also a good choice; although this is an easy gag, I always got a kick out of the narrator's moments of ass-kissing toward King Robert, who obviously was going to do great things and start a glorious new dynasty... heh.

For fans only... I count myself as one and got pretty bored.

A lot of similar and confusing names for sure. Not as good as The Silmarillion but close!!!

A lot of similar and confusing names for sure. Not as good as The Silmarillion but close!!!

love a good fictional history, tho it also raised more questions than it answered.

Si el pasado es prólogo, la obra maestra de George R.R. Martin -Juego de Tronos, la saga fantástica más innovadora y trepidante de nuestra época- se merecía una introducción excepcional. Por fin, con El mundo de hielo y fuego, la tenemos.

Con más de 170 imágenes originales a todo color.

Este libro magníficamente ilustrado es una historia completa de los Siete Reinos, animada por vibrantes descripciones de las épicas batallas, enconadas rivalidades y audaces rebeliones que desembocan en la trama de Canción de hielo y fuego y de la serie de HBO Game of thrones.

En una colaboración preparada desde hace años, George R.R. Martin ha formado equipo con Elio M. García Jr. y Linda Antonsson, fundadores del prestigioso fan site Westeros.org, quizá las únicas personas que conocen casi tan bien el mundo de la saga como su visionario creador.

Se reúne aquí todo el saber acumulado, todas las teorías eruditas y todo el acervo de relatos populares de maestres, septones, magos y bardos, en una crónica que empieza por la Era del Amanecer y sigue por la Edad de los Héroes, la aparición de los primeros hombres, la llegada de Aegon el Conquistador, el establecimiento del Trono de Hierro por Aegon, la Rebelión de Robert y la caída del Rey Loco, Aerys II Targaryen, causantes de las peripecias "actuales" de los Stark, los Lannister, los Baratheon y los Targaryen. Complemento definitivo del universo que tan deslumbrantemente ha ideado George R.R. Martin, El mundo de hielo y fuego es sin duda la demostración de que es más poderosa la pluma que una tormenta de espadas.

Some juicy tidbits
info I'll never retain
Winds of Winter, please?

If you're already a fan, check this out. Some of the history is interesting. The illustrations are beautiful. But this book feels like a cash out to a great extent, especially since GRRM can't seem to finish the 6th book in the actual story cycle. The book is hard to rate because it's probably 1 to 2 stars as something for the general population and 4 to 5 stars for GRRM fans. So, overall, 3...

Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire rejoice! This large and beautifully illustrated tome will answer many questions about key figures and events in the history of Westeros. Ancient history, Valyria, Aegon's conquest, the downfall of the Targaryen dynasty, and information about the key Westerosi houses are included. The book also covers Essos, including the Free Cities, Yi-Ti, and Asshai-by-the-Shadow. This is definitely a must-read for all fans of George R.R. Martin's books and the Game of Thrones television series.

Anna C. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

A detailed and exhausting tome, The World of Ice & Fire tells you all you might want to know about the fantasy world created by George R. R. Martin and popularized by the Game of Thrones television adaptation. Told in-character from the point of view of a maester, the tone is that of a history book, as we are given a thorough overview of the last few thousand years of Westerosi history.

This is both the book's strongest and weakest feature. Strong, as it means there is a lot of information for fans of the series to chew on. Important past events mentioned in the main series are expanded upon here, such as Robert's Rebellion, Aegon's Conquest and Tywin Lannister's scourging of the Reynes of Castamere, which serve to make the novels even richer (and there are a number of references to the Dunk & Egg stories too). The world of Westeros (and beyond) is fleshed out to the extent that even the most ravenous Game of Thrones fan will feel sated. The book provides plentiful ammunition for that favourite pastime of fans: speculating on what might happen next.

However, it is also a weakness as, often, there is a bit too much detail. The World of Ice & Fire is a lot longer than its 300 or so pages might suggest and it took me a lot longer to finish it than would another book of comparable length. Whilst, as mentioned above, a lot of the events are interesting to read about, by the time we get to the lands far beyond Westeros it becomes a bit vague and derivative. The historical influences and allusions of Martin's work have always been fascinating to spot (and The World of Ice & Fire presents a lot more examples) but when talking about the far-off lands, it was clear they were just the Amazon (the unexplored jungle land Sothoryos) or imperial China (Yi Ti and beyond) in all but name. Consequently, by this point I was ready to be done with the book, a feeling exacerbated by the density of the material.

The stories included in the book are also told without the same storytelling flair as the novels. It is a great feat of imagination and a lot of the tales are engrossing, but many of the things I read about I wanted to know more about. Yet in all likelihood GRRM will never have time to devote more than the fleeting one or two paragraphs here discussing each event. But this does remind one of the main value of the book: it is more Game of Thrones material – and well-assembled material at that (the illustrations are beautiful). Given the length of time between television seasons and the even longer length between the novels – and bearing in mind GRRM's recent announcement that The Winds of Winter won't be released on schedule – such material is to be welcomed and devoured. Given the delays in the main Song of Ice and Fire, there's a lot contained within this book that we can sustain ourselves with whilst we wait for winter to arrive.

I loved this. Informative. Dramatic. Everything!! I wish there was more.

This is a reference history with some amount of detail on Westeros and someone shorter histories of the other islands and continents in the World of Ice and Fire. There are races here I don't recall encountering in the books, so some might be in future tales. I rather think that viewers of the TV show will get less out of this book than readers. This reads like a history book, and if that's not your thing, you'll find it to be rather dry.

It helps a lot to reference a map when reading/listening to this book. There are some good ones online.

This book is meant to be read only by the readers of George R.R. Martin’s series “A Song of Fire and Ice” for it is a history of Westeros and the Game of Thrones. For the fans of Game of Thrones, the book is a superlative volume of the history of Westeros replete with maps and jaw dropping artwork. If you haven’t read all the books in “A Song of Fire and Ice” then don’t read this book for you won’t understand it, you’ll get confused with all the names, you won’t appreciate it, and your review will reflect your ignorance.

Everything that ever happened in westeros is in this book plus a description of all the houses and their vassals, tribes, dragons and other monsters.

Ein sehr schönes Buch, auch im rein äußerlichen Sinn, gibt der sowieso schon sehr detaillierten Welt von George R.R. Martin noch mehr Tiefe. Die Geschichte der in den Bücher bereisten oder auch nur im entferntesten angesprochenen Orte wird erzählt und mit Leben gefüllt.

Werden in den Büchern schon viele Namen dem Leser hin geworfen, hier verliert man manchmal den Überblick und damit auch den Zusammenhang. Etwas weniger wäre manchmal mehr gewesen.

Für Fans der Bücher oder der TV-Serie ist dieses Werk auf jeden Fall empfehlenswert, auch wenn es manchmal etwas trocken ist. Wer sich nicht zu oben genannter Gruppe zählt, nähert sich dem Universum von GRRM besser auf andere Weise.

Prachtige en illustraties en een mooie fictieve geschiedenis. Daardoor kun je andere verhalen weer wat beter in perspectief plaatsen - zoals Dunc en Ei.

A marvelous and almost enchanting exercise in cod history, lavishly illustrated. A chronicle of the world of Essos, and despite enormous amounts of detail and incident and a cast of millions, most of whom die horribly and appear as windswept bones and scorch marks, it's just a spotty and not entirely reliable survey that turns into ass-kissing hagiography around the time of Robert's Rebellion. The ironies accumulate rather heavily as the periods draw closer to the events of ASOIAF, and the biggest promise it makes is that the story of ASOIAF will fit into this history. It's great. I love it. I am immersed in the immersiveness and partaking of the worldbuilding and practically writing my own fanfiction about a dragon and, I dunno, a lonely but sensitive Ironman shiftin' at the Summer Isles disco.