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graveyardbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Viserys’ rule was uneventful and felt like a speedy prologue for the Dance. The TV show and his actor Paddy Considine fleshed out his character with hardly any worthy source material so I respect that. The Dance itself got boring fast. I did not care about most of the lords named and there were a lot of names. The pacing was a slog to get through and the relentless violence became tedious. It only hurt every time a dragon died and I had a soft spot for the Velaryons who were always badass.
After the Dance of Dragons, Cregan Stark and Tyland Lannister were familiar and compelling guardians but Unwin Peake got on my every last nerve. It was unbelievable that he could replace the whole castle’s staff with his relatives and not piss off any lord. He never got punished enough for the Lyseni Spring either.
The book ended abruptly before the most interesting Targ history of Baelor the Blessed, the Blackfyre rebellion and my beloved crown prince Rhaegar so I’m glad GRRM updated his writing progress for the sequel.
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
cherrynat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
I picked this up (finally) because I was loving HBO’s House of the Dragon — and the House of R podcast’s accompanying deep dives. I had too much FOMO about having to turn the podcast off when Mal and Jo discussed book spoilers at the end of each episode. Besides, it’s very unlike me to watch an adaptation of a book without having read the book first. So it was time to fix that!
Fire & Blood is not a novel; it’s fiction, but it’s written as a history text, wherein a maester is compiling various sources to provide an account of the Targaryen dynasty from Aegon’s Conquest through the end of Regency. (There is a second book, which will be called Blood & Fire [yes really], which will cover from the end of Regency through Robert’s Rebellion.) The Dance of the Dragons, which is the civil war being covered by House of the Dragon on HBO, starts about halfway through this book.
Reading a fake history book sounds kind of boring, but this is really not boring at all. I had a surprisingly awesome time reading it. Bonus of this format: I actually started at the beginning of the Dance rather than starting at the beginning of the book because I wanted to read that part before HotD season 2 ended, which worked perfectly fine! I read from there to the end, and then I went back to the beginning and read the first half. That said, I did have the audiobook as well (thank you, PRH audio!), but found it harder to concentrate on in that format. So print it was.
If you’re on the fence about picking this up, please allow me to encourage you to do so before HotD season 3. I don’t think you’ll regret it!
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Violence, and War
clairebartholomew549's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
abbrown118's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, and War
amachonis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
rml14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Biphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
marina_claveria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
viscountess_black's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It is a really good book, albeit a heavy one. It has amazing world and character building, which I enjoyed amazingly.
Would definitely recommend.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lizgom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Incest, Miscarriage, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment