Fire and Blood is a prequel to the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire series. It was written by George R.R. Martin and published in 2018. It serves not only as the backstory to the "main" Game of Thrones novels but also as the source material for the series House of the Dragon. Specifically, the book details (sometimes in painstaking detail) the rule of the Targaryen line over the seven kingdoms. It begins with the rule of Ageon I and ends at the beginning of the rule of Ageon III, or about 100 years before the rule of Aerys II, "The Mad King" (and Dani's father). Of course, Aerys II's rule was ended by Robert Baratheon, who was king at the beginning of the Song of Ice and Fire novels and the Game of Thrones TV Series.
The hardcover version of the book is just over 700 pages. It is not the easiest or quickest read. Not only is it long, but it goes into great detail about the reigns of the various Targaryen kings, queens, princesses, etc., as told from the notes of the maesters of the time. There are many characters in the book, and Martin reuses the first names of the various members of the Targaryen family, so it is sometimes hard to tell exactly who he is talking about. Plus, the fact that the story is not told linearly can make it hard to follow when Martin keeps jumping around and referring to past events and characters. While I am not one who is pissed that Martin worked on this (and other) novels before finishing the next book in the "main" series, I think it would have been better to focus on one or two characters and break this into two or three books. That said, it provides a very informative history and provides details that will probably be omitted from the TV series. So, it is worth the time to read.
The hardcover version of the book is just over 700 pages. It is not the easiest or quickest read. Not only is it long, but it goes into great detail about the reigns of the various Targaryen kings, queens, princesses, etc., as told from the notes of the maesters of the time. There are many characters in the book, and Martin reuses the first names of the various members of the Targaryen family, so it is sometimes hard to tell exactly who he is talking about. Plus, the fact that the story is not told linearly can make it hard to follow when Martin keeps jumping around and referring to past events and characters. While I am not one who is pissed that Martin worked on this (and other) novels before finishing the next book in the "main" series, I think it would have been better to focus on one or two characters and break this into two or three books. That said, it provides a very informative history and provides details that will probably be omitted from the TV series. So, it is worth the time to read.
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