A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: A Song of Ice and Fire

Reviews

1. 

   Adrienne – August 14, 2024

   What Martin did with nobility in Song, he shows with commoner eyes in Knight
   I am a huge fan of George R R Martin, am up to date on his illustrious ASOIAF series, and write reviews and analysis of the same. It is my second favorite fandom and top favorite (written) fantasy series. This review will be in three parts just as the volume is.The Hedge KnightWhat I find interesting is that Westeros a hundred years in the past is pretty much the same as Westeros now. Nothing has really changed. If we consider what a hundred years ago was like in our world, it is quite different (at least in some appearances. Many thought patterns are sadly still the same, but that’s beyond the scope of this review). What ASOIAF shows with the nobles and high lords AKOTSK does with the small folk, landed knights, and petty lords. Just like ASOIAF, Knight occurs in the aftermath of a rebellion that took place 16-17 years ago, the Blackfyre Rebellion as compared to Robert’s, but where Robert’s succeeded, the Blackfyre’s failed. It is interesting to note that both conflicts concerned the Targaryens. I’ll have more things to discuss about this in my reviews of the other two stories, but there is an ominous thread that ties the past and the future together.Dunk is an extremely likable character. His self-deprecation only serves to elevate him as the unlikely hero. Though he is technically not a knight (Ser Arlan never did the deed before he died), he truly is and that’s all that matters. He’s the far less cynical and jaded Hound who does the right thing because his ideals have not yet been smashed by reality. Though he does rush into situations often without thinking, it’s only because he’s so keen on doing the right thing if not necessarily the thing that will foster his self-preservation.Egg is adorable and feisty, and his tongue betrays the fact that he’s more than a squire. He is the common “hidden prince” motif as Dunk is the “orphan turned hero,” but neither tropes come off as trite. There is some pretty horrifying implications of the abuse Egg suffered from Aerion that makes me wonder if more is not being said (there’s a video about Aeron [interesting name similarity] Greyjoy having a comparable experience with his brother Euron.) So I can understand Egg’s desire to not return to SummerhallMartin delivers another beautifully written story in this first installment. He has a way of pulling you into the visceral world of Song despite how brutal and desperate it might be. We see Westeros through the eyes of two very young and in many ways naive characters though one is a commoner and the other a prince. They each have knowledge to impart to each other that neither could know alone. Dunk has more years and experience in survival, and Egg knows the intricacies of noble courts, information Dunk never thought he would need.The Sworn SwordThe Sworn Sword picks up a year and a half after The Hedge Knight leaves off. Dunk and Egg have had many adventures unseen (or unread in our case) in that interim. They have been to Dorne, which we only hear about in recount, but this fortune of location spared them the disastrous effects of the Great Spring Sickness, which reached neither Dorne nor the Vale of Arryn as both regions closed off their access roads and ports to all travelers. Tens of thousands died mostly in the cities, King’s Landing succumbing to the sickness the worst. Both the king Daeron II Targaryen and his two most immediate heirs the Princes Valarr and Matarys. The current sitting king is Aerys I Targaryen, a man who loves books more than ruling and who loves his wife even less. The kingdom is currently heir-less and many whisper that the king’s hand Lord Brynden Rivers or Bloodraven is more ruler than he.Currently Dunk is in the service of Ser Eustace Osgrey of Standfast, an old, (minimally) landed knight who has nothing left but ashes and heartache being the last surviving member of his family and forced to remember the ancient honors they once owned. On their way back from a supply run in Dosk along with another of Ser Eustace’s knights Ser Bennis, Dunk notices a local stream has run dry. Ser Bennis insists it’s just due to the drought, but Dunk is more suspicious. Upon investigation, they discover workmen of Lady Rohanne Webber of the neighboring lands of Coldmoat have built a damn. When the men refuse to leave peacefully, Ser Bennis wounds one and drives them away. This act sets in motion all of events of the story for good or for ill.This second installment of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms intimately and tragically shows us the fallout of civil war. The world of Song, of which Knight is a microcosm is one of constant returns and repeats. As the greater tale encompassed in the five currently pushed novels portrays a world in the aftermath of one rebellion, Knight does the same thing a hundred years prior. This is certainly a critique that human nature does not change nor do the hearts of men yearn less for glory, and what side of the war one falls depends on fate’s fatal whim. Had Daemon Blackfyre won the throne, Ser Eustace would’ve sat in Coldmoat and Lady Rohanne might have been a lady in waiting if lucky and a thrall if not. Wars do not have definite heroes and villains, and this is something Dunk is forced to see.The Sworn Sword brought the complexities of these issues to the fore where The Hedge Knight introduced us to the situation in the background. TSS showed the real world consequences of choices. GRRM has never shirked on proving to his readers that actions have consequences some of the potentially dire *cough* Eddard Stark *cough* Oh…”dire” consequences hehe. A pun appears without any effort.Again Dunk and Egg are excellent filters to view this deadly pageantry. They are young but are becoming more worldly in their travels, but not so much yet that their sights are jaded. The reader is brought into the conclusions that the hedge knight is forced to make even though he doesn’t like it. Dunk is a character who wishes for the world to be black and white, as many in our world do, for it would be simpler. Be a good knight, protect the helpless, defend the weak, serve your sworn knight or lord, but as in the first novella with Tanselle and Aerion, it’s not always so easy. Being a “true knight” in that case nearly cost Dunk a literal limb. This is an echo of the dilemma Jaime certainly faced in the last day of his service to Aerys. Being a knight is supposed to be easy in principle, but nothing is easy in a world made of grey.The Mystery KnightThe story starts with Dunk and Egg leaving Stoney Sept and heading north in hopes to take up service with Lord Beron Stark who has sent out a call for men to help with the Greyjoy raids off the northern coast. On the way there, the two encounter a lords train led by Lord Gormon Peake of Starpike who has nothing but rude words for the hedge knight and his bald squire. Included in the party is another lord named Alyn Cockshaw and a well dressed man who claims to be a hedge knight called Ser John the Fiddler. Though Peake and Cockshaw insult and challenge Dunk, Ser John treats him courteously and invites him and Egg to attend the wedding of Lord Ambrose Butterwell as there is to be a joust to celebrate his wedding to a Frey of the Crossing, and the prize is to be a dragon’s egg.Dunk already harbors ill will towards Lord Gormon as Ser Arlan, the knight for whom he squired, lost his former squire and nephew to Peake on the Redgrass Field during the First Blackfyre Rebellion. Egg tells Dunk that though Lord Gormon’s arms have three castles on an orange field, the Peake family used to own three, but two were forfeit when he sided with House Blackfyre.Dunk decides to forestall his trip to the north and attend the wedding. On the way there, he befriends three fellow hedge knights about the same mission: Ser Maynard Plumm, Ser Kyle the Cat of Misty Moor, and a young, prickly hedge knight named Ser Glendon Ball who claims to be the bastard son of the famous knight Quentyn “Fireball” Ball, a warrior of great renown who fought during the Blackfyre Rebellion.The wedding takes place at Whitewalls where Lord Frey arrives with his toddler aged heir (Walder Frey who even then is described as “chinless”) and his fifteen year old daughter who weds Lord Ambrose. Egg informs Dunk that Lord Frey took no part in the Rebellion; however, one of his sons fought for the red dragon and the other for the black. In this way, Frey was assured to be on the winning side, but both of his sons died on the Redgrass Field. Even a hundred years ago, Freys were equivocators…The final (for now) story in AKOTSK culminates in another rebellion that is quashed before it can even begin. Martin again shows us how history does nothing but repeat itself within the confines of this triad and the macrocosm of the full narrative as a whole. Knight takes place in the aftermath and ascent of a rebellion as Song does a century later. Nothing changes unless we engender change.Once more Dunk manages to behave like a true knight and surprisingly survive despite all of the treachery afoot. Him and Egg almost have this protective aura about them, though since Martin only has them for viewpoint characters, he can’t just kill them off I suppose. Each also has a unique perspective based on their opposing backgrounds.The Mystery Knight presents the idea of tourneys, weddings, and large social gatherings as covers for clandestine meetings and potentially treasonous plans (which it is theorized was the hidden motive for the Tourney at Harrenhal in the Year of the False Spring). Under the shade of wedding’s boon, numerous lords were able to get together in the aftermath of the Great Spring Sickness that in taking away much opened up ambitious opportunity.After the Rebellion ended, the lords on the losing side had to offer up hostages to the crown. This was brought up in The Sworn Sword, as well.Hostages are used to keep unruly or potentially rebellious lords in line, but once dead, that leverage is gone. It’s the reason in the current stories, Cersei is so intent on maintaining the charade that she holds both Sansa and Arya though the younger Stark sister has been long lost. The more hostages you hold, the more control you exert over their house. These people are essentially currency, and so long as you have them, you are buying a house’s allegiance and compliance. In a way feudal marriages work similarly, too, though this paradigm is hopefully far more benevolent where hostage taking is what happens to the losers in war.Bloodraven is the thread that runs through the narrative of Knight. He ties the past to the future as the only character to exist in both the time of this story and Song. He is a shadowy, omnipresent figure who was first seen by Dunk riding a “pale mare,” which is both a macro allusion to death (the pale horse), and a potential future reference to a disease of the same name. This does not bode well for Bloodraven’s character for like many of Martin’s his true motivations are unknown as are his plans for Bran.Each story of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms delves deeper into the idea that there are two sides to war (as again Song does in it’s very title invoking Ice and Fire). THK is laid on the backdrop of the failed rebellion’s aftermath . We don’t hear much about it directly, we only know that it occurred. We are also shown two very different types of Targaryens in Aerion and Baelor. This could be due to a number of factors. Aerion is more inbred than Baelor, and therefore received a heaping of the Targaryen madness that’s always a potential fear.At the end of TSS we are more involved in the shadows of the rebellion. The young hedge knight is forced to stop thinking in black and white, which is a wonderful meta critique for the whole Song narrative as Martin writes almost entirely in grey. The difference between loyalists and traitors is utterly contingent on who wins the war. Is it truly fair to mete out punishment based on an outcome no one can really know? In the more current rebellion those lords that sided with the Targaryens were stripped of titles and lands while those who sided with Robert were honored, but if the chips had fallen another way, the results for those raised would’ve been far more devastating.Finally at the end of TMK we see the elusive Bloodraven whom we’ve only heard mentioned many, many times prior so much that the man seems to exist in legend especially considering his “thousand eyes and one,” which is the answer to the riddle Dunk asks himself again and again.There aren’t “good guys and bad guys;” there are people who believe they are owed certain things and they’re willing to fight to obtain it. What matters is whose army wins the day.This repeats itself in Song with Robert’s Rebellion. Rhaegar is clearly the Crown Prince and the rightful heir to the throne, but he died at the ruby ford (another “red” field we could say), and Robert ascended the throne. Though there were whispers that he was a usurper and even those who called his rebellion “The War of the Usurper,” by might and strength he was the rightful king.This prequel to A Song of Ice and Fire serves to further the idea that there are no absolutes. As Varys states in A Clash of Kings, “Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.” All that we see of wars and alliances is the shadow and pageantry of the same. It’s the great show that’s still required to make it seem like these choices truly matter. Ser Jorah, rough as he is, has some brilliance to spare for this paradigm as well when Dany asks him if the small folk truly pray for the dragon’s return replies. “The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends. It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace. They never are.” Who sits the Iron Throne only really matters to whom sits the Iron Throne, their cronies, and backers. To the everyday peasant it means nothing at all; they are far below the farce. Knight even more so than Song in having a commoner protagonist shows how true this is. Egg as a royal foil who is able to see the common point of view is being set up as the kind of king whose appointment to the the throne may actually make a difference.Like A Song of Ice and Fire, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is masterfully rendered. Martin is a craftsman of the written word, and I expected no less than perfection from this epic prequel to his epic work. I read that there will be more Dunk and Egg stories to tie more threads together. Until then (or until The Winds of Winter arrive), I shall indulge myself with his Dreamsongs. I may not be one of the small folk, but that doesn’t mean I will not pray for the author’s next words.

2. 

   Atrulion – August 14, 2024

   Didn’t “please my taste buds”
   So … I found this book to not meet its expectations. It was a fun ride, three short stories, but it wasn’t what I come to expect from George R.R. Martin.The reason why I rated it 4/5 is because the illustrations were great, and the book came in perfect shape. Otherwise, it’d be a 3/5. It’s still good, just didn’t “please my taste buds”.

3. 

   Mercedes – August 14, 2024

   Loved it
   A nice little side quest for game of thrones fans.

4. 

   Bryan Desmond – August 14, 2024

   For every fan of ASOIAF…
   Seeing as how this book is just a compilation of all three Tales of Dunk and Egg, I’ll simply post my review for each of the stories below. Do note that in this collection, Gary Gianni lends his skill to the story and has illustrated each tale.THE HEDGE KNIGHT:The Tales of Dunk and Egg! The Hedge Knight, the first of three tales about these unlikeliest of companions, is a tale well told. Martin is a masterful storyteller; one who’s been at it for a very long time. And coming back to Westeros was an absolute treat. I was saving these novellas for when I was truly craving more stories in the Song of Ice and Fire world, and I’m glad to have saved them. It’s been years since I read anything within this world, and it feels like coming home.After Ser Arlan of Pennytree, the man Dunk had been squiring for since he was a boy, takes sick and dies, Dunk sets his sights on the soon to be held Tourney of Ashford. Along the way he meets Egg who, like Dunk, may just be more than he seems. It’s a short little novella, but is full of all those things that have given Martin the following he has. Westeros has always to me felt like our world with slight changes. It doesn’t take much to imagine it clearly, as Martin paints it so vividly. In some alternate reality, it would be our own deep history but slightly larger, a tough more grand. A world as varied and realistic as our own.Dunk and Egg. They’re an unlikely pair, and they’re a joy to read about. The Sworn Sword is next.THE SWORN SWORD:I don’t know what to rate this. They’re short, but I really enjoy them. I don’t know. The ratings are nonsense anyway; know that I liked it a lot.The Sworn Sword is the second of three stories about the Hedge Knight, Dunk, and his squire, Egg. It takes place around two years after the first story, and I think it was every bit as good, maybe even a little better. We are treated to some juicy Westeros history in this one, as we follow Dunk during his time as Ser Eustace Osgrey’s sworn sword; a knight whose house, previously of renown and good standing, is down on its luck. Ser Eustace and his men fought in the Blackfyre Rebellion, which is an intensely interesting portion of ASOIAF history, and I was pleased to hear more about it through his recollections. Bloodraven is also a frequent topic of discussion, as he is the King’s Hand during the time of this story, and that was interesting to hear.I also felt that we dove deeper into Dunk’s character in this one. It may just be a natural reaction to spending more time with him, but I was really pleased to have done so. While not full of quite as much action as the first tale, Dunk’s entanglement with Ser Eustace and Lady Rohanne, the Red Widow, was nicely done. It makes me excited for the third story, the Mystery Knight.THE MYSTERY KNIGHT:The third Tale of Dunk and Egg proved to be just as entertaining as the first two. Dunk and Egg’s relationship grows in the telling of these tales, and whether it’s sage advice that Dunk lends his quire, or a threatened clout in the ear (it’s funny every time), their bond is something I enjoy.The Mystery Knight makes good use of all the history about the Blackfyre Rebellion we’ve been given in the stories thus far. I won’t give away too much but George offers us another noteworthy wedding; complete with a jousting tourney, a mystery knight, and as many shadowy figures as you’d expect at an ASOIAF wedding. Just what the hell is going on in Whitewalls…Each Dunk and Egg tale was well told, and offers a fan of GRRM’s main series more of what they love about his writing; with the addition of some excellent backstory on some characters who are only mentioned a handful of times previously. I’m disappointed to not have more of them to read, but I know better than to request something of George other than Winds of Winter.I highly recommend these stories to anyone who hasn’t yet read them, especially fans of the main series.

5. 

   Zach – August 14, 2024

   Excellent
   Three excellent stories. Can’t wait to see it in live action.

6. 

   Amazon Customer – August 14, 2024

   Arrived damaged
   Some of the pages were damaged and it was sad to get it in that condition.

7. 

   Joe Steiner – August 14, 2024

   Great book
   Book came in and very good condition

8. 

   Ricardo Sierra – August 14, 2024

   El libro está muy bien hecho, si tienen la oportunidad, háganse de una copia, el encuadernado es de muy buena calidad, los dibujos son muy buenos y las hojas de muy buena calidad.

9. 

   G. Jones – August 14, 2024

   makes interesting reading a great edition

10. 

    Din mamma – August 14, 2024

     The book itself is of high quality, however I was disappointed to find out how small it was, I was hoping for it to fit into the rest of my asoiaf collection.

11. 

    Carlos F. – August 14, 2024

    Novela de aventuras sin pretensiones ambientado en el universo JdT, con pequeños toques de intriga política como es habitual, pero que no le apartan de lo que es: un libro entretenido que te deja con ganas de más.Si te quedó mal sabor de boca con la última temporada de Juego de Tronos, este libro te la quitará.

12. 

    Varsha Mouse – August 14, 2024

    100 years before the events we know and agonize over, there lived a hedge knight, and he met his squire on way to a tourney. Both knight and squire will travel long on the road to destiny, connecting them to the Westeros we know today, and here are their initial three adventures, from the tourney, to a red headed widow, and finally a rebellion that failed, all three tales filled with humor, romance, adventure, and that bittersweet tinge that only GRRM can evoke. He is a master of creating characters and moods. We feel a knights nervousness, a cowards fear, a squires defiance…..everyday life of commonfolk and hedge knights living day to day, intertwined with the power struggles of nobles and kings for the iron throne of Westeros.