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A review by fieldofhats
Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, Archmaester Gyldayn
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
“Outside the storm was raging. Thunder rolled across the castle, the rain fell in blinding sheets, and from time to time great bolts of blue-white lightning lit the world as bright as day. It was bad weather for flying, even for a dragon, and Arrax was struggling to stay aloft when Prince Aemond mounted Vhagar and went after him. Had the sky been calm, Prince Lucerys might have been able to outfly his pursuer, for Arrax was younger and swifter… but the day was “as black as Prince Aemond’s heart,” says Mushroom, and so it came to pass that the dragons met above Shipbreaker Bay. Watchers on the castle walls saw distant blasts of flame, and heard a shriek cut the thunder. Then the two beasts were locked together, lightning crackling around them.”
If I had a nickel for every time I read an epic fantasy novel that should have been split into two volumes, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice in a row. That’s not to throw any shade towards either part, though — they were both great, but in different ways. For clarity: the first part is the beginning up until Jaehaerys’ death, and the second is everything after. I would say that I enjoyed the first part a great deal more, although part two is still a solid 4 stars from me. I’ll be splitting this review into two parts.
The framing device of a history text is really cool and fascinating, but the style can be slightly jarring. For the first chapter or so I didn’t prefer it, but I got over that very quickly. George R. R. Martin is very good with character development and political intrigue, which there is absolutely no lack of in this novel. There’s also a fair bit of action, and because of the framing device, the action scenes don’t overstay their welcome, which I definitely prefer. For a book with much less dialogue than is typical for a high fantasy book, this book was surprisingly riveting.
Martin is also really good at writing description. He doesn’t use flowery language to the extreme, but when the scene calls for it, he delivers. Although there were some points where I wanted more than what was given, but that’s seemed more of a framing restraint than anything.
Speaking of characters, Martin is a master at realistic portrayals and complex figures. The arc of the first few Targaryen rulers was fantastic and gripping; Aegon’s conquest was fun, but when he dies and his sons take over, the politics pick up and things really start getting going. The feud between the two half-brother princes Aenys and Maegor paved the way for Jaehaerys’ reign, which I loved. Jaehaerys is one of the only characters that is truly “good”, and does things based on principles and honor, which was a nice shift from Maegor and felt wholly justified
Surrounding Jaehaerys are characters like Rogar, whose motives are exactly the same as Jaehaerys’, only he goes about it vastly differently. The two characters are great foils, the knight and the king, and their codes of honor and duty bind them together.
The arc of Rhaena Targaryen is one that I particularly love. She’s ambitious, strong-willed, and lovely. Like most of her family, she desires power, but she is also defiant in the face of tradition and societal norms, as is apparent when she insists on staying in Fair Isle and marrying a lesser lord. But even still, she is the blood of the dragon, and she has great fondness for her history — she just has her own way of doing things. It also doesn’t hurt that her arc includes the only queer story in the whole book, a subtle, but undeniable and surprisingly wonderful, sapphic romance. This also plays a huge part in her stubborn attitude; she must do things her own way because she has no choice. The love story isn’t a central plot point since she isn’t a major character, but her lover, Lady Elissa Farman, is distinctive and even has a small arc of her own, which is apparent when she leaves Rhaena to pursue the open sea.
The queerness of this book is just wonderful altogether. It’s subtle, realistic, and fits well within the world. Martin’s queer characters are proof that queerness belongs in any and every story — even trans characters like Queen Recallio. He sets up specific gender roles and breaks them, and in so doing creates great trans characters (or, one great, albeit brief, trans character).
The second part of the novel is less focused on character moments and politics and really dives into the intensity of war and betrayal. The reason I didn’t like it as much can be boiled down to Rhaenyra’s character. She had character traits, but her motives were static and unchanging. She goes through a great deal of trauma, but no actual character arc. She’s a fine audience surrogate, which is what makes her a good protagonist for the TV show, but an uninteresting character compared to the likes of Rhaena, Queen Rhaenys (Aegon I’s sister/wife), and Princess Rhaenys (The Queen Who Wasn’t). The latter two didn’t even go through significant arcs, but they were both interesting in unique ways. Because of this, the Dance of the Dragons lost some of its intended weight for me and I found myself not caring much about it,save for when the dragons died.
The characters of Corlys Valaryon and Cregan Stark were the two who really made the second part worth it for me, though. I enjoyed Jaehaerys as an anchor character because of his good and honorable nature, which we don’t get much of in the second part, save for these two. Corlys had a fierce sense of honor and duty and stood by his rightful queen up until the end, and even after her death advocated for her children to be on the throne. He was a character that was just refreshing during the Dance of the Dragons.
Cregan Stark offers a different perspective on the theme of honor. The culture of Winterfell and the Starks (the younger sons and older men of a family going to war during the wintertime, their worship of the old gods, etc.) is really fascinating and provides a good contrast to the Targaryens. Cregan was bloodthirsty, undoubtedly, but he also had an ironclad sense of honor.When Cregan accused Corlys of treason, it made sense and put into question Corlys’ honor. Perhaps Corlys thought his duty to the Seven Kingdoms was more important than his honor, which Cregan sharply disagreed with. The conflict reminded me a lot of Jaehaerys and Rogar’s relationship. Cregan’s brief arc also served as a wonderful prelude to A Game of Thrones.
After Cregan left the story, though, the only anchor character I could latch onto was Alyn Valaryon, who was very fun and exceedingly interesting, but he wasn’t a main player in the last few chapters. Lady Baela and Rhaena were also very intriguing characters, but they got even less page time. I think I would have come to like Aegon III quite a bit if the story went on, though; the last few pages of the book made me gain respect for him, and if this book ever gets a Volume 2, I’m excited to see where that story goes. Overall, the second part had some amazing moments, but it was marred by its duller parts.
Overall, the whole book was fantastic, though. The worst things about it was that it was boring at some points, but that’s can be forgiven. The good parts of this book were indescribably incredible, some of the best fantasy I’ve read in a very long time (which is saying a lot since I recently finished The Name of the Wind). It has some amazing themes of honor and duty, feminism, and queerness (shoutout to Rhaena, Leanor, Baala, and Queen Racallio), and its plot and characters truly shine with Martin’s writing.
To close, this is the second long epic fantasy novel I’ve read this year and I’ve discovered that I love the journey long fantasy books take you on. I read this in many different places, felt so many things, and became so invested in the story. Obviously not every long fantasy novel is like that (cough cough, The Wise Man’s Fear), but when it’s good it lives with you for weeks and travels with you and takes up space in your mind for a long time afterwards. This book exemplifies the best of all that.
If I had a nickel for every time I read an epic fantasy novel that should have been split into two volumes, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice in a row. That’s not to throw any shade towards either part, though — they were both great, but in different ways. For clarity: the first part is the beginning up until Jaehaerys’ death, and the second is everything after. I would say that I enjoyed the first part a great deal more, although part two is still a solid 4 stars from me. I’ll be splitting this review into two parts.
The framing device of a history text is really cool and fascinating, but the style can be slightly jarring. For the first chapter or so I didn’t prefer it, but I got over that very quickly. George R. R. Martin is very good with character development and political intrigue, which there is absolutely no lack of in this novel. There’s also a fair bit of action, and because of the framing device, the action scenes don’t overstay their welcome, which I definitely prefer. For a book with much less dialogue than is typical for a high fantasy book, this book was surprisingly riveting.
Martin is also really good at writing description. He doesn’t use flowery language to the extreme, but when the scene calls for it, he delivers. Although there were some points where I wanted more than what was given, but that’s seemed more of a framing restraint than anything.
Speaking of characters, Martin is a master at realistic portrayals and complex figures. The arc of the first few Targaryen rulers was fantastic and gripping; Aegon’s conquest was fun, but when he dies and his sons take over, the politics pick up and things really start getting going. The feud between the two half-brother princes Aenys and Maegor paved the way for Jaehaerys’ reign, which I loved. Jaehaerys is one of the only characters that is truly “good”, and does things based on principles and honor, which was a nice shift from Maegor and felt wholly justified
Surrounding Jaehaerys are characters like Rogar, whose motives are exactly the same as Jaehaerys’, only he goes about it vastly differently. The two characters are great foils, the knight and the king, and their codes of honor and duty bind them together.
The arc of Rhaena Targaryen is one that I particularly love. She’s ambitious, strong-willed, and lovely. Like most of her family, she desires power, but she is also defiant in the face of tradition and societal norms, as is apparent when she insists on staying in Fair Isle and marrying a lesser lord. But even still, she is the blood of the dragon, and she has great fondness for her history — she just has her own way of doing things. It also doesn’t hurt that her arc includes the only queer story in the whole book, a subtle, but undeniable and surprisingly wonderful, sapphic romance. This also plays a huge part in her stubborn attitude; she must do things her own way because she has no choice. The love story isn’t a central plot point since she isn’t a major character, but her lover, Lady Elissa Farman, is distinctive and even has a small arc of her own, which is apparent when she leaves Rhaena to pursue the open sea.
The queerness of this book is just wonderful altogether. It’s subtle, realistic, and fits well within the world. Martin’s queer characters are proof that queerness belongs in any and every story — even trans characters like Queen Recallio. He sets up specific gender roles and breaks them, and in so doing creates great trans characters (or, one great, albeit brief, trans character).
The second part of the novel is less focused on character moments and politics and really dives into the intensity of war and betrayal. The reason I didn’t like it as much can be boiled down to Rhaenyra’s character. She had character traits, but her motives were static and unchanging. She goes through a great deal of trauma, but no actual character arc. She’s a fine audience surrogate, which is what makes her a good protagonist for the TV show, but an uninteresting character compared to the likes of Rhaena, Queen Rhaenys (Aegon I’s sister/wife), and Princess Rhaenys (The Queen Who Wasn’t). The latter two didn’t even go through significant arcs, but they were both interesting in unique ways. Because of this, the Dance of the Dragons lost some of its intended weight for me and I found myself not caring much about it,
The characters of Corlys Valaryon and Cregan Stark were the two who really made the second part worth it for me, though. I enjoyed Jaehaerys as an anchor character because of his good and honorable nature, which we don’t get much of in the second part, save for these two. Corlys had a fierce sense of honor and duty and stood by his rightful queen up until the end, and even after her death advocated for her children to be on the throne. He was a character that was just refreshing during the Dance of the Dragons.
Cregan Stark offers a different perspective on the theme of honor. The culture of Winterfell and the Starks (the younger sons and older men of a family going to war during the wintertime, their worship of the old gods, etc.) is really fascinating and provides a good contrast to the Targaryens. Cregan was bloodthirsty, undoubtedly, but he also had an ironclad sense of honor.
After Cregan left the story, though, the only anchor character I could latch onto was Alyn Valaryon, who was very fun and exceedingly interesting, but he wasn’t a main player in the last few chapters. Lady Baela and Rhaena were also very intriguing characters, but they got even less page time. I think I would have come to like Aegon III quite a bit if the story went on, though; the last few pages of the book made me gain respect for him, and if this book ever gets a Volume 2, I’m excited to see where that story goes. Overall, the second part had some amazing moments, but it was marred by its duller parts.
Overall, the whole book was fantastic, though. The worst things about it was that it was boring at some points, but that’s can be forgiven. The good parts of this book were indescribably incredible, some of the best fantasy I’ve read in a very long time (which is saying a lot since I recently finished The Name of the Wind). It has some amazing themes of honor and duty, feminism, and queerness (shoutout to Rhaena, Leanor, Baala, and Queen Racallio), and its plot and characters truly shine with Martin’s writing.
To close, this is the second long epic fantasy novel I’ve read this year and I’ve discovered that I love the journey long fantasy books take you on. I read this in many different places, felt so many things, and became so invested in the story. Obviously not every long fantasy novel is like that (cough cough, The Wise Man’s Fear), but when it’s good it lives with you for weeks and travels with you and takes up space in your mind for a long time afterwards. This book exemplifies the best of all that.