Voice of London

Game of Thrones creator, George R.R. Martin has just released his new book, Fire & Blood and it’s not what you’d expect.

Written in cooperation with Elio García and Linda Antonsson, it follows the reign of house Targaryen and takes place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

The wait for the latest chapter of Martin’s saga, The Winter Winds, has been as long as only the winters in Westeros can be – and it doesn’t look like it’ll end anytime soon. During Thursday’s interview with Stephen Colbert, the award-winning author admitted that The Winter Winds remains his top priority, even though the original release was dated for 2015. It’s quite clear by now that we’re not going to get the book this year either. When it is finally finished, it’s up to him to decide which loose end of the story he will tie up next, be it second half of Fire & Blood, the latest book of the series, A Dream of Spring, or some entirely new project. “There’s a lot of stuff to write,” he said. “I should actually get home and get to work, I guess.”

In an exclusive video for Esquire, the author confirmed that the history of Westeros is as important as the present events. As we know from the books and series, a big portion of the past is unclear and subject of speculation even for the characters involved in the story. Fire & Blood is looking to answer some of the big questions surrounding the origins of Daenerys’ dragons and hint towards the identity of The Prince That Was Promised.

Here are some of the Easter Eggs that Vanity Fair was able to find in Mr. Martins new book.

Despite the series boasting one of the biggest fanbases in the world, Game of Thrones books had always struggled to attract a similar audience. Given that the latest book is written from the perspective of a maester, taking on a task of writing a chronicle of the legendary house Targaryen, the story lacks the gripping narrative we were so accustomed to in Mr. Martins saga. Some of the bigger issues fans had pointed out included a slow pace and mundane, often dry storytelling. All this combined with a general distaste at the fact that it’s another companion book as opposed to progressing the story further, caused a flood of mixed reviews.

Game of Thrones is coming back to HBO for its final chapter in April of 2019. Until then, you can get your copy of Fire & Blood on Amazon and see for yourself whether George R.R. Martin had lost his touch or not.

Words: Adam Kaczyński | Subbing: Matilde Moro