While you ’re anxiously wait the 6th Westeros Word of God fromGeorge R.R. Martin , there ’s something to tide you over . This calendar week , Martinreleased a new novella set in the past of Westeros , and it demo just whathappens when there ’s a war with tons of flying dragon .
Top image : Tomasz Jedruszek / CG Society
plunderer ahead …
Martin ’s story “ The Princess and the Queen , or TheBlacks and the Greens ” look in a unexampled anthology he co - emended withGardner Dozois calledDangerousWomen , which is 800 varlet of short fabrication about tough or mischievousfemale persona . “ The Princess and the Queen ” convey place longbefore the time of Ned Stark and Tyrion Lannister , during the churning periodof Westerosi history known as the Dance of Dragons .
In a nutshell , King Viserys I go bad and leaves his daughter , Rhaenyra , as his chosen successor . But his widow woman , Queen Alicent , wants her Word Aegonto take the throne alternatively , on the grounds that only men can sit on the IronThrone . These two woman set up a massive , crashing civil warfare that trashes largeswathes of Westeros , and includes betrayal , execution , ugly atrocities andwholesale destruction .
And dragons . The main thing that ’s a revelation about thisstory , after record so much about a Westeros where dragons are thoughtextinct , is that there are so many flying dragon , and they pretty much drive thenarrative . You see first hand just why dragons were the WMDs of Westeros back inthe mean solar day . One dragon can decimate an army , and five or six Draco are anunstoppable strength .
Even as the two claimants to the throne attempt to win thesupport of various lords and attach strategic fastness , the master action mechanism inthe civic war is all about who ’s capture the most , and biggest , dragon . You learna lot more about dragon husbandry inthis story , including the shop mechanic of just who can and can not ride a dragon , and there ’s also a net ton of detail about dragon battle scheme .
And lots and draw of dragons kill each other . There aredragon sparring matches , dragon jousting , tartar dogfights , and basicallydragons ripping the shit out of each other . Here ’s a abbreviated sample of Martindescribing two dragons going at it :
The flak come sudden as a bombshell . Caraxes dive downupon Vhagar with a piercing shriek that was heard a dozen nautical mile off , cloakedby the glare of the setting sun on Prince Aemond ’s blind side . The stemma Wyrmslammed into the old dragon with awful force .
Pretty thrilling stuff . Also , there are a lot of insightsinto Westerosi government here that longtime fans of the series will findinteresting — including a glimpse of just what happens when the smallfolk inFlea Bottom rise up in force , way beyond the riots we run across in the Song of Ice and Fire book . Also , it ’s bothjarring and nerveless to see the member of House Frey and House Stark and HouseBaratheon playing very different roles in this conflict . All the politicalmaneuvering you ’ve arrive to expect from Martin is here , in jigaboo .
you could easily conceive of Tyrion Lannister read this accountof Westerosi history and memorise a lot about both dragons and politics fromit .
That read , “ Princess ” is basically just anextended excerpt from a history book , and not really a great piece of narrativefiction in its own right . Martin gives us glimpses of the personalities andtheir clashes , but after a while you might discover yourself losing track of someof the players here — and in general , Martin ’s famous gift for internalmonologue and tight POVs is sorely omit here . Most of the action here isnarrated by a slightly pompous historian , who covers the facts of the war in asinteresting a manner as possible — but it ’s no substitute for the morepersonal touch that Martin usually uses .
All in all , “ The Princess and the Queen ” is amust - read for die - hard fans of Game ofThrones or Martin ’s book — but notreally essential interpretation for anyone else .
As for the rest of DangerousWomen , I ’ve enjoyed what I ’ve read of it . give that it ’s 800 pages longand I ’m test to finish the new Gene Wolfe , I have n’t been able to read everystory , alas . There are unquestionably some gem here — most notably Pat Cadigan’svery personal , intensely powerful storey about two sisters coping with theirmother ’s Alzheimer ’s Disease . Lev Grossman tells an entertaining story ofpranks and a secret spectre at Brakebills , his wizardly school . Diana Gabaldontells a new story in the Earth of Outlander — afford that these stories spaneverything from extrasensory love story to heroic fantasy , it seems like the sort ofbook that will have something for everybody .
Word reviewBooksGame of ThronesGeorge R.R. Martin
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