The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones

For fans only, and I'm rating it on that basis— if you're not already very into the novels and also a big nerd by nature (i.e. if you wouldn't read Dungeons and Dragons manuals for fun) then of course this kind of thing is just silly. And yeah, the writing is pretty uneven, as you'd expect from something that was put together in this way. But for me it's just a ton of fun, sketching in all the little corners of this massive backstory, creating and destroying a dozen mini-characters like virtual particles in every paragraph, and providing an excuse for lots of good solid fantasy illustration. I do wish there was more range of style in the illustrations (and that more of the artists knew how to make more than a few basic types of show more faces— there's a little too much California in the aristocracy) but I like that they spent some time on landscapes and scenes of daily life, not just battles. Writing it in character was also a good choice; although this is an easy gag, I always got a kick out of the narrator's moments of ass-kissing toward King Robert, who obviously was going to do great things and start a glorious new dynasty... heh. show less

A marvelous and almost enchanting exercise in cod history, lavishly illustrated. A chronicle of the world of Essos, and despite enormous amounts of detail and incident and a cast of millions, most of whom die horribly and appear as windswept bones and scorch marks, it's just a spotty and not entirely reliable survey that turns into ass-kissing hagiography around the time of Robert's Rebellion. The ironies accumulate rather heavily as the periods draw closer to the events of ASOIAF, and the biggest promise it makes is that the story of ASOIAF will fit into this history. It's great. I love it. I am immersed in the immersiveness and partaking of the worldbuilding and practically writing my own fanfiction about a dragon and, I dunno, a show more lonely but sensitive Ironman shiftin' at the Summer Isles disco. show less

A detailed and exhausting tome, The World of Ice & Fire tells you all you might want to know about the fantasy world created by George R. R. Martin and popularized by the Game of Thrones television adaptation. Told in-character from the point of view of a maester, the tone is that of a history book, as we are given a thorough overview of the last few thousand years of Westerosi history.

This is both the book's strongest and weakest feature. Strong, as it means there is a lot of information for fans of the series to chew on. Important past events mentioned in the main series are expanded upon here, such as Robert's Rebellion, Aegon's Conquest and Tywin Lannister's scourging of the Reynes of Castamere, which serve to make the novels even show more richer (and there are a number of references to the Dunk & Egg stories too). The world of Westeros (and beyond) is fleshed out to the extent that even the most ravenous Game of Thrones fan will feel sated. The book provides plentiful ammunition for that favourite pastime of fans: speculating on what might happen next.

However, it is also a weakness as, often, there is a bit too much detail. The World of Ice & Fire is a lot longer than its 300 or so pages might suggest and it took me a lot longer to finish it than would another book of comparable length. Whilst, as mentioned above, a lot of the events are interesting to read about, by the time we get to the lands far beyond Westeros it becomes a bit vague and derivative. The historical influences and allusions of Martin's work have always been fascinating to spot (and The World of Ice & Fire presents a lot more examples) but when talking about the far-off lands, it was clear they were just the Amazon (the unexplored jungle land Sothoryos) or imperial China (Yi Ti and beyond) in all but name. Consequently, by this point I was ready to be done with the book, a feeling exacerbated by the density of the material.

The stories included in the book are also told without the same storytelling flair as the novels. It is a great feat of imagination and a lot of the tales are engrossing, but many of the things I read about I wanted to know more about. Yet in all likelihood GRRM will never have time to devote more than the fleeting one or two paragraphs here discussing each event. But this does remind one of the main value of the book: it is more Game of Thrones material – and well-assembled material at that (the illustrations are beautiful). Given the length of time between television seasons and the even longer length between the novels – and bearing in mind GRRM's recent announcement that The Winds of Winter won't be released on schedule – such material is to be welcomed and devoured. Given the delays in the main Song of Ice and Fire, there's a lot contained within this book that we can sustain ourselves with whilst we wait for winter to arrive. show less

I possibly wouldn't have bought this if Amazon hadn't offered it very cheaply, but it was a good read, a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any fan of A Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones. The artwork is all of good quality, and the fictional history was interesting and entertaining. Not for anyone who isn't a committed fan, but recommended to those who are. The only gripe I have is that for those parts of the world that GRR Martin isn't all that interested in, far away from the main action, the co-authors seem to have trawled through every fantasy trope they could think of to fill them out (lost cities in the jungle, etc.).

The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia, Jr., and Linda Antonsson, is a lovely oversized book replete with gorgeous illustrations by some 27 artists and numerous short chapters concerning, well, the "history" of the fictional world of Westeros. It's unclear to me whether these stories were written by GRRM himself or by his co-authors, Garcia and Antonsson, who run a well-known fan website about Westeros, but in either case, the entries are entertaining and educational for those of us who have followed the books, and the HBO television show, avidly over the years. The book is divided into sections about ancient history, the reign of the dragons and the show more Targaryen conquest and rule, the fall of the dragons and "the glorious reign" of Robert Baratheon, ending more or less where A Song of Ice and Fire begins. Following these sections is another, longer section detailing the history of each of the Seven Kingdoms, and the histories of other lands outside of Westeros. I think you pretty much have to be a fan of the books/show to be taken with this large volume, although the quality of the paper and the beautiful artwork are definitely worth a look even if you know nothing of this fantastical world. Me, I love it, and I will savour it for years to come. show less

The World of Ice and Fire is hands down the prettiest book that I own. I can see myself taking it down occasionally, flipping through it lovingly, possibly even referencing it now and then. Heck, I'm even considering buying a fancy little coffee table, just so I could use it to display this book.

When it comes to its (written) content however, I was a bit disappointed, though that's not necessarily the book's fault. For all that I don't see myself as this big ASOIAF fan, I do enjoy watching videos on some of the craziest fan theories. My favorite is a rather grizzly secret of Winterfell and the Starks. With that in mind, I was looking forward to finding out more about Bran the Builder and the Night King. Unfortunately, such information show more would've been found in a book about myths and legends, rather than a history treatise.

Names such as Brandon the Builder, Garth Greenhand, Lann the Clever, and Durran Godsgrief are names to conjure with, but it is likely that their legends hold less truth than fancy.

Still, there was some interesting stuff to be had here, such as: Aegon the Conquerror not being a particularly good ruler. Although he was an excellent war lord, it was his nephew, Jahaeris I, who had consolidated the conquered lands. Other random tidbits I enjoyed were the stories about the mistresses of Aegon IVth, the weird mazes left behind in Lorath, or the mysterious abandoned cities from the continent of Sothoryos.

For the most part however, the reading experience was a rather boring one. If I often found the main books tedious to get through, a history treatise didn't have a remote chance with me. First, I could never seem to remember the various petty kings from before the conquest. Even though they later got rehashed, in a more thorough historical account of each of the seven kingdoms. Then, there was the lengthy saga of the Dance of Dragons, which in my mind lasted hundreds of years, instead of just three... which is probably why I remember mostly nothing aside from people and dragons dying left, right and center.

Suffice to say, that I didn't technically read the entire book, skipping the parts about the Reach, the Stormlands, and Dorne... as well as those about Yi Ti and Asshai. Then again, I watched enough Youtube videos on the latter two, so I probably didn't miss anything.

Score: 3/5 stars

This book's biggest asset is the gorgeous art it features. Its second biggest asset is making me look forward to books 6 and 7 (and possibly 8?) in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Oh, and it also made me realize how much I didn't need to read The Tales of Dunk and Egg or A Targaryen History. show less

It is a book that the pedant in me likes, providing a usable chronology for the world of the Starks and Lannisters. However, there's a very annoying text problem with a substitution of the word "Wroth", used as a noun in the place of the noun "Wrath". It's distressing when you are reading what is otherwise fine quality pseudo-medievalism. Otherwise, the book is good fun as a satire of the academic historian. Novelists often have a problem maintaining an accurate chronology in the face of inspirational flow, but the fans (And novelists are entertainers foremost!), can be distressed by chronological howlers. It is good that GRRM got around to tidying up his work. But this book is no real substitute for getting on with the core show more novels...C'mon George, get it done! show less