A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R R Martin

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (A Song of Ice and Fire)

by George R.R. Martin

SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS compiles the first three official prequel novellas to George R.R. Martin’s ongoing masterwork, A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.

A century before A GAME OF THRONES, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros…

Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne there was Dunk and Egg.

A young, naïve but courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals – in stature if not experience. Tagging along with him is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg – whose true identity must be hidden from all he and Dunk encounter: for in reality he is Aegon Targaryen, and one day he will be king. Improbable heroes though they be, great destinies lie ahead for Dunk and Egg; as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits.

Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, and featuring more than 160 illustrations by Gary Gianni, one of the finest fantasy artists of our time, this beautiful volume will transport readers to the world of the Seven Kingdoms in an age of bygone chivalry.

Reviewed by inlibrisveritas on

5 of 5 stars

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are three prequel stories to the A Song of Ice and Fire series that focus on an unlikely knight and with an even more unlikely squire. They take place about a century before the events of the A Game of Thrones, and are not overly necessary to read in order to enjoy the series. These are the perfect little stories to help hold over the SoIaF fans for a little bit longer and great as a smaller taste of what newcomers can expect from the principle series.

Each story follows Dunk and his squire Egg, who are quite the unlikely pair as Dunk is a newly knighted hedge knight and Egg isn’t who he says he is…much to the consternation of Dunk. Each story gives a little more info on how Sir Dunk the Tall becomes the stuff of legends, even though he is woefully untried and new to the arena of knighthood. I loved his bravery even in the face of defeat and how unlike so many of the knights we’re use to seeing in this series he actually holds to his code…even when it gets him in trouble. Egg is sort of hilarious, given who he actually is. He has an little attitude about him, but his heart is in the right place and it’s great to see him struggle with how normal people handle the stress of political strains and how he views the bending of laws. I think my favorite of the three stories is probably the first story, The Hedge Knight. It has everything I love about the series and really made me want to pick up the A Feast of Crows even though I have no time for 800 page book right now. The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight were also really good reads and had plenty of intrigue and tension, but I think the all out melee in the first story won me over.

I listened to the audiobook version of this one, and was really pleased to find out that Harry Lloyd, the actor who played Viserys in the show, was the narrator. He does an excellent job. He has plenty of accents on hand, with a ton of different inflections, and I was pretty impressed that no two characters sounded exactly alike…especially given that Martin likes to add in as many characters as he can. Plus when Lloyd isn’t being a brat to his sister, his voice is heaven.

I did however missed out on the amazing illustrations in the physical copy, and they are gorgeous! I think the pictures alone make the physical copy worth purchasing, at least for me.

I really hope Martin plans to write some more stories featured around Dunk and Egg, or really any of the more notable historical figures in the series, because this one was a lot of fun!

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  • Started reading
  • 27 October, 2015: Finished reading
  • 27 October, 2015: Reviewed