First Published: October 2015
Publisher: Bantam Books
Series: A Song of Ice & Fire
355 pages (hardcover)
I'm a huge Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones fan, but I never read the novellas that went along with this series because they were originally published separately in various anthologies and I wasn't going to go hunt down/buy three anthology books just to read one story from each. But! At last! The Dunk & Egg novellas are bundled together for the first time, complete with gorgeous illustrations!
The three stories in this book follow the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight, who, through a series of events, ends up having the child Prince Aegon as his squire. All these stories take place about 90 years before the events of A Game of Thrones. You don't have to have read the Song of Ice & Fire series to read this book, though I personally think it makes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms more interesting if you have.
The first story, The Hedge Knight, is about how Dunk became a hedge knight and how he met Egg/Aegon. He competes in the Ashford Meadow tournament where unfortunately, Dunk is accused of unjustly harming Prince Aerion. Dunk must battle in a trial-by-combat to prove that he was in the right.
In the second story, The Sworn Sword, Dunk is taken into the service of Ser Eustace Osgrey, an old knight. Dunk tries to stand up for Ser Eustace against his neighbour, Lady Rohanne, who has built a dam on her lands preventing the flow of a river into Ser Eustace's land. Dunk's loyalty is put to the test when he realizes Ser Eustace has not been completely honest with him.
In the third story, The Mystery Knight, Dunk and Egg attend a Butterwell-Frey wedding where he decides to join the tourney as a mystery knight named The Gallows Knight. To their surprise, they realize the entire wedding/tourney is actually a part of a treasonous plot against the King.
I loved all the stories in this book. I'm so glad these stories were finally bundled together, because I could read them back to back and enjoy the continuity. While you could read them separately as well, the three stories flow together very well so I think reading them all at once is the best. Plus, they were great stories that really illustrated what it meant to be chivalrous and loyal.
And of course, since I am such a big fan of A Song of Ice & Fire, it was great having new reading material come out of Westeros, even if it wasn't directly related to the present Game of Thrones time period. It was really neat to read about Westeros during the reign of Targaryen rule.
Lastly the illustrations were fantastic and made me wish all novels are accompanied by drawings!
I heard Mr. Martin plans to write several more Dunk & Egg novellas in the future and I am so excited for them. Though naturally, I want him to finish The Winds of Winter first .... !
My Rating: 5/5
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