PDF Fire Blood 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones A Targaryen History Audible Audio Edition George R R Martin Simon Vance Random House Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 26 hours and 24 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Random House Audio Audible.com Release Date November 20, 2018 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07CLNJBLD

Fire Blood 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones A Targaryen History Audible Audio Edition George R R Martin Simon Vance Random House Audio Books Reviews

• J. R. R. Tolkien labored at his mythology for a majority of his adult life, from the trenches of World War I until his death. He mostly thought it unpublishable. He was interested in the great histories, in the sweeping sagas, in the stories that were written not as modern novels, but as texts that might have jumped straight out of the world he created. Some of Tolkien's mythological material made it into 'The Lord of the Rings.' Much of it did not. He wanted to publish the histories--the Silmarillion saga--alongside the books we all know today, but the publishers turned him down repeatedly. He died without seeing any of that work published, and when his son Christopher tried to make one cohesive text from the massive amounts of material, much of it was bastardized. Only later did Christopher edit and release over a dozen volumes of original texts, showing us a bit more of the scope of the history Tolkien had imagined.
  
  Why am I telling you this about Tolkien in a review for GRR Martin? This should seem fairly obvious by now GRR Martin has the same longing Tolkien did. He has the same love of the grand, sweeping historical epic. So far he has been giving us his 'Lord of the Rings,' his drama of the minutiae, but in the process he got caught up in the grand and glorious visions of the Targaryens, just as Tolkien was swept up into the glories of the First Age. It’s no mistake this book is being called the “GRRMillion.”
  
  Martin's popularity is granting him a chance that Tolkien unfortunately never had in his lifetime To create his myth IN FULL. To give us the grand sweep of things in the greater world, beyond just the characters we know and love in 'A Song of Ice and Fire.'
  
  Please accept this book for what it is, rather than complaining about what it does not aim to be. And what exactly is it? An artefact from Westeros. It should be read not as a book Martin wrote, but one he transcribed, from the original text by Archmaester Gyldayn. It will require some work on the part of the reader. The lines have been drawn, and we are being asked to fill in the colors with our imaginations. This participatory reading is what can make history so engaging—it takes work, but the work pays off.
  
  We have two choices We can claw after the next GoT book, complaining that the author hasn’t yet met our demands. Or we can allow the author a chance to fill out his universe. For my part, this stuff is more exciting than the series proper. We get to see the bigger picture that all of the Song of Ice and Fire is a part of. If you don't want this sort of thing, simply move on rather than ruining the experience for others.
  
  I remember what it felt like to sit down one day as a boy and open 'The Silmarillion.' I was holding the Bible of the Elves. It was a piece of that world. It was a text that might have been read by a scholar in Minas Tirith. It was magic. Martin has the chance to give us this now. Imagine being Samwell Tarly, sitting in the Citadel's library, opening up this ponderous and magical tome about the history of the Targaryens for the first time.
  
  Why now, though? Why not wait until he's finished telling the main story? For my part, I'd rather follow the passion of a writer than get mediocre work demanded by fans. Martin created this universe for us; let him follow his vision for how it should proceed. He was caught up in the glorious history of his universe as he was telling his story, and he wants us to have it in all of its rich complexity. I can only wish that Tolkien had had the same opportunity in his lifetime. We only see fragments of what that might have been. But Martin is giving us his own great mythology, in his own lifetime, whole and complete; and I am a boy again with wonder.
  
  This, my friends, is going to be a feast.
• I didn’t finish the book yet but read a decent portion. First, reviews that state they’re not reading this until Winds of Winter comes out shouldn’t be allowed because they have nothing to do with this book. We’re all annoyed that GRRM has taken this long to complete the series and is continuing to write other side projects. Fire & Blood fills in a lot of blanks, but would have been more interesting if it was written like Dunk & Egg, as tales. This reads more like Westeros.org or a Wikipedia article. It’s still interesting and has good art, just don’t expect it to be page turner or a book you can’t put down.
• This book is literally just copied and pasted from the book "The World of Ice and Fire."
• The degree to which you will enjoy this depends on two things
  - Do you enjoy reading history books?
  - Are you a serious fan of this fictional world, and want to know the background behind everything?
  
  If you answered yes to both, you will enjoy this.
  
  Personally, I do enjoy history books, but I prefer learning about fictional worlds in a more conventional format - a character-centric story, e.g., along the lines of GRRM’s other books.
  
  For example - I just don’t care that much about the names of various nobles who’s names are only mentioned to name the leader of an army that the Targaryans flew over and burned. I’d much rather have a story from, say, Aegon’s immediate viewpoint and experiences. That is not what this book is about though.
  
  I think there will be a lot of folks who enjoy this book, but if you were looking for a book that “humanizes” the list of names that preceded the main series, this isn’t the book you are looking for.
• My god people, Martin doesn't owe you anything, quit complaining that he didn't write the book *you* wanted or *how* you wanted. It is clearly stated in the description what this book is about. It's because of people complaining and being petulant children that he has struggled to finish Winds of Winter. Appreciate what he has done or don't, but to whine like spoiled adolescents just shows how immature and ungrateful some of you people are!
  
  If he hasn't written to your liking, why don't you go write a series for yourself and spare us all the entitled attitude.
  
  I have found this book incredibly fascinating, but I enjoy history textbooks and the like. This is a wonderful imagination of an imaginary world and its history, and it feels like a book equivalent of sinking into a long, hot bath.
• This is a boring history of Westeros. Really disappointed that, almost ten years later, Mr. Martin continues to work on other projects and not on the completion of this book. Please just commit to finish winds before taking on more!
• About 100 pages in and can’t put it down. Love Westeros and it’s history.
  
  And as the others leaving “reviews” so astutely put, this is not Winds of Winter. Get over it. You’re more than welcome to go write your own epic fantasy books at your own pace.