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

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

By: Linda Antonsson,George R.R. Martin,Elio M. Garcia Jr.
Narrated by: Roy Dotrice,Nicholas Guy Smith
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Publisher's Summary

The never-before-seen history of Westeros and the lands beyond. With hundreds of pages of all-new material from George R.R. Martin.

If the past is prologue, then George R.R. Martin’s masterwork—the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time—warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE.

George R.R. Martin, in collaboration with Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson, has written a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, featuring the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead up to the events in the bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Collected within this volume is the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers, family trees for the Houses Stark, Lannister and Targaryen, and in-depth explanations of the history and culture of Westeros.

This is the definitive companion volume to George R.R. Martin’s dazzlingly conceived universe; THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE is indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords.

©2014 George R.R. Martin (P)2014 2014 Random House LLC

Critic Reviews

"Of those who work in the grand epic fantasy tradition, George R.R. Martin is by far the best" (Time Magazine)

"Colossal, staggering… Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome in his imaginary world … one of the greats of fantasy literature" (SFX)

"The sheer-mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads … Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias" (Guardian)

What listeners say about The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Tedious. Most avid fans of the subject matter only

As a physical book, with illustrations and all, this book works really well. If you want to read about Dorne, you just thumb through to the 'Dorne' section – it has maps and you can find the bits and pieces that you want to read through, without having to go through everything else as well. With this audiobook, you listen to everything from the dawn of time onwards, through every Aegon, Aemon and Aerys, through where one Aegon kills the other Aegon and so on and so forth. If you are intensely interested in the subject matter, this will be fine and you will have a great time. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I will freely admit that I am the horrible sort of person who goes online and posts in forums regarding the series.

I do not think that the casual reader will get the enjoyment out of this that they would get from the physical copy of the book.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So glad I purchased this.

Don't think I could have read this. The audio was brilliant. Thrones fans only.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

If you enjoy worldbuilding, this is a gem.

I probably actually enjoyed this more than the Song Of Ice And Fire books. It reminds me of some of the "History of England" books I read growing up, and each listen through I've picked up new aspects that affect the ASOIAF story line. Plus Roy Dotrice is such a great narrator for this kind of book. I like the use of the alternate narrator for the asides and footnotes. The "history" is painted in broad strokes so you can flesh out the world. This is very much like a wide shot, and the ASOIAF stories are in closeup. Loved it.

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5 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Not what you might be expecting

I’m a Game of Thrones fan, but this book is boring. It’s like a getting a history lesson by a bad teacher. If you want to learn the history of every descendant of every family in Game of Thrones and which descendant rode which dragon 300 years ago then you might like it otherwise stay clear. The man reading the book sounds like a maester which was good but he lacked variety in his reading and it got a bit tedious.

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1 person found this helpful

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WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!

in the last 4 months i have listened to the 8 books that preceed this one. i expected another well written, exciting and captivating book, instead i got a 21 hour history lesson which i thought initially would lay some history for the prequels to come, however it is just a collection of every thought that George has had but couldn't work out a way to include in one of the previous books.
l'm no writer but but to make book of all the stuff you left on the cutting room floor is just taking the piss out of your readers.
regards
very disappointed consumer

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A. Must read

if you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, this is a must read for any fan, wanting to know more about the world of Game of Thrones

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Not what I paid for

This is like a Theory Text Book and not what I expected. I wanted a story not the details of everything Game of Thrones. How do I get my credit back to buy a book I want?

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing!

This really is a niche addition - it is a beautiful history of Westeros, the seven kingdoms but it is also very boring. If you are a diehard fan of game of thrones, then this might be for you but for someone like me, just a fan of the books and series, I found it disappointing.

Thought this would be engaging and captivating, instead I’ve spent hours rattling through 300 years of game of thrones history - it was tedious at best. This would probably be much better as a hard copy book instead of an audio book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Good next story

These books are getting a bit repetitive. So many retelling of the same plots from different perspectives. I mean, the story was good, the narrators fabulous, but we already know what happens from the other books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully Written Accounts

Beautiful insight into the unseen worlds and histories, of A song of Ice and Fire.

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