#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work
the inspiration for HBO s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the DragonThe thrill of Fire
& Blood is the thrill of all Martin s fantasy work: familiar myths debunked the whole trope
table flipped. Entertainment WeeklyCenturies 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 black-and-white illustrations
by artist Doug Wheatley. 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 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.Praise for Fire & BloodA masterpiece of popular historical
fiction. The Sunday TimesThe 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
