A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (The Tales of Dunk and Egg #1-3)
by George R.R. Martin, Gary Gianni (Illustrator)
Tales of Dunk and Egg is a series of fantasy novellas by George R. R. Martin, set in the world of his A Song of Ice and Fire novels. They follow the adventures of "Dunk" (the future commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall) and "Egg" (the future king Aegon V Targaryen), some 90 years before the events of the novels. Three novellas have previously been published – The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003) and The Mystery Knight (2010) – but were republished on 6th October 2015 as a single book called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, with illustrations by Gary Gianni.
Martin has stated his intention to continue the series to cover the entire lives of these two characters. As of late 2013, Martin announced that the fourth instalment, with the working title The She-Wolves of Winterfell had been postponed while he completes The Winds of Winter, the forthcoming sixth novel in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. In April 2014, Martin also announced that he had roughed out another Dunk and Egg story with the working title The Village Hero which would be set in the Riverlands. He noted that he was not sure which of these two would be completed first. In 2015 Martin noted that in addition to She-Wolves and The Village Hero he had notes and fairly specific ideas for a number of further instalments including The Sellsword, The Champion, The Kingsguard and The Lord Commander; taking the planned series total to at least nine novellas.
So the good news is that over the next couple of years, we are going to see two further books about Dunc and Egg and one or two further tomes to complete the Song of Ice and Fire saga. What exciting stuff.
Anyway, onto A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I had previously read all the books in The Song of Ice and Fire saga (in 2014) and so was familiar with the world of the Seven Kingdoms. I had not even heard that this new book had been published until I saw it on the bookshelf in KMart when out doing Christmas shopping with my wife (21 Nov 2015). It was priced at only $20 and I snapped it up - great value for a 355 page hardback novel.
This book is so easy to read (I devoured it in 2 days) and Gianni's drawings add so much to the text (fantastic illustrations). Like everything that Martin writes, it is impossible to predict how things will turn out and twists and turns are always to be had. The number of knights and lords is somewhat daunting and I now feel that, having read it once, I need to go back again and reread it to get a better feel for the huge landscape that it paints, with all its characters, both good and bad. Both Dunc and Egg are eminently likeable and both are honest and good. Somehow, you know that Dunc will win out in every case but it's still great fun to find out how.
I can hardly wait for the next instalment.
by George R.R. Martin, Gary Gianni (Illustrator)
Tales of Dunk and Egg is a series of fantasy novellas by George R. R. Martin, set in the world of his A Song of Ice and Fire novels. They follow the adventures of "Dunk" (the future commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall) and "Egg" (the future king Aegon V Targaryen), some 90 years before the events of the novels. Three novellas have previously been published – The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003) and The Mystery Knight (2010) – but were republished on 6th October 2015 as a single book called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, with illustrations by Gary Gianni.
Martin has stated his intention to continue the series to cover the entire lives of these two characters. As of late 2013, Martin announced that the fourth instalment, with the working title The She-Wolves of Winterfell had been postponed while he completes The Winds of Winter, the forthcoming sixth novel in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. In April 2014, Martin also announced that he had roughed out another Dunk and Egg story with the working title The Village Hero which would be set in the Riverlands. He noted that he was not sure which of these two would be completed first. In 2015 Martin noted that in addition to She-Wolves and The Village Hero he had notes and fairly specific ideas for a number of further instalments including The Sellsword, The Champion, The Kingsguard and The Lord Commander; taking the planned series total to at least nine novellas.
So the good news is that over the next couple of years, we are going to see two further books about Dunc and Egg and one or two further tomes to complete the Song of Ice and Fire saga. What exciting stuff.
Anyway, onto A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I had previously read all the books in The Song of Ice and Fire saga (in 2014) and so was familiar with the world of the Seven Kingdoms. I had not even heard that this new book had been published until I saw it on the bookshelf in KMart when out doing Christmas shopping with my wife (21 Nov 2015). It was priced at only $20 and I snapped it up - great value for a 355 page hardback novel.
This book is so easy to read (I devoured it in 2 days) and Gianni's drawings add so much to the text (fantastic illustrations). Like everything that Martin writes, it is impossible to predict how things will turn out and twists and turns are always to be had. The number of knights and lords is somewhat daunting and I now feel that, having read it once, I need to go back again and reread it to get a better feel for the huge landscape that it paints, with all its characters, both good and bad. Both Dunc and Egg are eminently likeable and both are honest and good. Somehow, you know that Dunc will win out in every case but it's still great fun to find out how.
I can hardly wait for the next instalment.
No comments:
Post a Comment