Book review: Fire And Blood, by George RR Martin

George RR Martin has described Fire And Blood as his equivalent of JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. It is a backstory, telling the events that happened in Westeros 300 years before the events in A Song Of Ice And Fire. But there are significant differences. Tolkien’s work was written before The Lord Of The Rings, submitted for publication, rejected and published posthumously. In addition, it dealt with god-like entities and creation myths. The rejection of The Silmarillion (“too Celtic” according to the publisher; actually ersatz Norse) spurred him into telling a different story in the world... read more