A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - (Westeros)

Started: July 29, 2017

Finished: Aug 2, 2017

Country: Westeros

Publication Date: Oct 6, 2015

I forgot just how much I enjoy reading GRRM! It's been ages since I finished reading the latest book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" [ASOIAF] series, and this series of short stories reminded me how much I miss his writing and his ability to weave a storyline that is so complex, so detailed, contains so many characters and plots that at times I find myself wishing I could devote a room in my house to posting family genealogies and maps and histories and flow charts of who is related to whom, as well as the locales and events.

Or at least a notebook that might look something like this:

Source: Goodreads - posted by Jadranka - Sep 19, 2014

This book is a prequel to ASOIAF and revolves around the trials, tribulations, adventures and relationship between Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and his squire Egg (Aegon Targaryen). It is set about 90 years before the events chronicled in ASOIAF. It is novella #1 in a 3 novella series - at least according to this GRRM blog post from 2014.

But almost as captivating as the story is the enchanting artwork of Gary Gianni. I love his artistic interpretations of Dunk and Egg. And if I ever re-read ASOIAF (which may actually happen - one day!) it will be very, very difficult for me to get those images out of my head, even though both Dunk and Egg will be much older in that series.

In a way, reading this book has made me (and all other ASOIAF fans) anxious as to when/if GRRM will finish the story line. With Book 5 having been completed and with the HBO Game of Thrones series already going well beyond the books to date, and at least 5 spinoffs in the works, I wonder (as have many others) if GRRM truly has any motivation to actually complete the series. He probably has more money then he needs from the books, his cut of the HBO series, his cut from any spinoffs, not to mention any cut of the profits from merchandising, etc., so money probably wouldn't be an incentive.  So we have to rely on his commitment to finishing the story for his legions of fans as the incentive. At least, I hope so!