A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The gripping Sunday Times bestselling historical fantasy fiction book Paperback – 1 Jun. 2017

This a wonderful book. Two very lovable characters - Sir Duncan the Hedge Knight and the Young Prince Aegon - in three separate adventures through Westeros about 80 years before Game of Thrones. Humour, dram.a and mystery in each tale. The book also has some wonderful line drawings and they remind of stories I read when I was a child. Very heart warming and comforting too.

Always love grr Martin books. It's like you visit that world for a wee while. I don't know how he does it, but you become invested in the characters.

Well written, not too many characters, as GOT introduced in the last two books. These characters are fleshed out, so relatable. A lovely story and two lovely heroes

My partner had bought me this as he’s bought me the whole set of game of thrones book can’t wait to read this

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R R MartinIllustrations by Gary GianniWesteros, a century before Jon Snow encounters Aemon Targaryen up at the Wall, with delightful pen and ink drawings running alongside the text. What's not to love?In The Hedge Knight, Dunk and Egg meet quite by chance. Dunk wants to be a knight. He possesses the bare equipment, which he inherited from the knight he squired for. Sir Arlan of Pennytree has just died of a fever and Dunk now has to make his own way in the world. But his old knight taught him well. Egg is masquerading as a stable boy when Dunk stops at an inn for a rest. The little lad's real name is Aegon, and we all have a pretty good idea what that means even before we spot his silver hair and violet eyes. Dunk and Egg cross paths again, at a tourney in Ashford meadow."He felt foolish standing there with sword in hand over an eight-year-old orphan. He sheathed it, glowering so the boy would see that he would suffer no nonsense. I ought to give him a good beating at the least, he thought, but the child looked so pitiful he could not bring himself to hit him. He glanced around the camp. The fire was burning merrily with a neat circle of rocks. The horses had been brushed, and clothes were hanging from the elm, drying above the flames."Continuing their journey in the second tale, The Sworn Sword, Dunk and Egg are returning from a trip to Dorne. They are heading for the broken-down castle of Sir Eustace Osgrey. Drought has made the local villagers desperate and an adjoining landowner, the Red Widow, has diverted the river further upstream to irrigate her own crops. Dunk loyally raises the best army he can from among Sir Eustace's tenants."The next day a dozen would-be warriors found their way to Standfast to assemble among the chickens. One was too old, two were too young, and one skinny boy turned out to be a skinny girl. Those Dunk send back to their villages, leaving eight: three Wats, two Wills, a Lem, a Pate, and Big Rob the lackwit."In the final story, The Mystery Knight, Dunk and Egg make for Lord Butterwell's castle, hoping for a chance to enter the tourney and win a dragon's egg. The uproar of a wedding and bedding provides the perfect opportunity for someone to snatch the prize, rather than earning it on the field.Each tale was very different to the others, but all were thoroughly likeable in their own way. In fact, just like Dunk and Egg themselves! It was lovely to follow the two heroes as they faced a variety of enemies with good humour, and came to understand each other along the way. You can't ask for more than that in a book.Gary Gianni's drawings elevated my enjoyment of the book to a whole new level, informing the action and deepening the vivid portrayal of the wealth of secondary characters. The style of illustration was a perfect match for the writing. There are some books where the reviewer feels that the drawings were a late add-on or that the text could have done just fine without them. This isn't one of them!Enjoy!

As a huge GRR Martin fan and, especially, a Game of Ice & Fire fan, perhaps I've just waited too long for the next instalment of the story and the fact that the HBO TV series has now caught up with the books, not to mention changing lots of things, hasn't helped. So I leaped at an opportunity to read a proper GRRM / Game of Thrones prequel, to keep me going until Mr Martin gets around to his next proper edition in the tale. My expectations were high and, possibly because of that, I am left slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, any GRRM book is in a different league to most other authors, but, by his standards, this isn't one of his best.As with many of his stories, this one takes ages to get going. That's fine in a series of books covering thousands of pages, within which the plot has time to build and develop, but in a stand alone novel like this, it just feels slow. The first half of the book feels more like it's aimed at a child or adolescent market rather than the usual adult clientele, with just a single use of a shocking word to gainsay that feeling. The main hero, Dunk, is very childlike in all things and his sidekick is, actually, a child. There is the usual character switch of the child being more worldly than the adult but that's hardly new.The descriptive writing is entirely up to Mr Martin's usual impeccable standards and really brings this fantasy world to life. Add to that GRRM's signature mechanism of having characters with shades of grey, so 'friendly' characters can turn out to be villains and vice versa and there is enough here to keep a reader engrossed. Plus, I have always liked the style of using the proper names for bits of armour without spoon feeding the reader with descriptions of what they are; if you don't know what a gorget is, look it up! The action sequences are few and far between and, while that's consistent with other books, I did wonder if the involvement of HBO might have prompted a little more action. It seems not.If you've read the other books, it helps a little as there are frequent references to familiar Houses but it isn't, at all, essential. As a prequel, this story is sufficiently separated from the main series as to be another story entirely.The last quarter of the book lost me entirely in its reliance on the complex interrelationships between the heraldry and complex politicalarrangements between just about every character in the book. While I had little difficulty in absorbing the intricacies of the House structures and loyalties within the GoT / Game of Ice & Fire series, I soon became utterly lost here. In the end, I gave up and just assumed that Dunk would onlyharm the bad guys.The book is, very clearly, set up to allow others in the series. Lots of loose ends to tie up and beautiful damsels to meet again. I do hope that Dunk grows up a bit in the next one and isn't such a 'Dudley Do-Right'. I also know that GRR Martin is notorious for not just taking years to finish a book but for also having many books in progress at any one time, often in collaboration with others, so I hope that writing more adventures for Dunk and Egg doesn't draw him away from at least progressing the Ice & Fire series.The first of the Ice & Fire series was a bit of a struggle for some, with the pace picking up as the series progressed, so I'm happy to give GRRM the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's the same in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. As usual, Mr M has inserted a 'hook' into this book as, although the reader is lead to believe that he knows what Dunk's origins are (an orphan of Flea Bottom), we don't really know and the potential for a shocking revelation remains. If he follows his usual style, such shocks may either never come or only come after several books.I'll be happy to give the next book in this series a try. But I won't hold my breath while waiting!

Almost halfway thru the book. Great read.

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.

Comprato di seconda mano (su Amazon) ed è arrivato in ottime condizioni. La storia è molto belle e non me lo aspettavo ad onor del vero

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" by George R.R. Martin is a compelling collection of three novellas set in the richly detailed world of Westeros. Taking place about a century before the events of "A Song of Ice and Fire," these stories follow the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg, who is revealed to be Aegon V Targaryen.The book masterfully blends elements of classic chivalric romance with the dark, intricate politics and rich lore that fans of Martin's work have come to expect. Duncan, a towering but humble knight, and Egg, a prince in disguise, make for an engaging pair, their dynamic providing both humor and depth. Martin’s skillful world-building is on full display, with vibrant descriptions and well-developed characters that enrich the tapestry of Westeros’ history.Each novella offers a self-contained narrative, yet they interlink to reveal broader themes of honor, loyalty, and the complexities of knighthood. The prose is as immersive and detailed as ever, ensuring that readers are drawn into the medieval setting and its nuanced social structures.Overall, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is a satisfying and well-crafted addition to Martin’s expansive universe. It provides a deeper understanding of the history and lore of Westeros, while offering an engaging and adventurous read that stands on its own merits.

The media could not be loaded. 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.