I'm pretty open about my dislike for George R.R. Martin's untimeliness, but it has given me a chance to further explore more of his works. There are some decent works outside of Westeros, but as I am a big fan of the ASOIAF books (going so far as to own the Game Of Thrones cookbook), I couldn't help exploring the alleged 'prequel' novellas involving the characters Dunk and Egg. And, boy, did I fall for one hell of a marketing ploy - an unnecessary one at that! If you're picking up The Hedge Knight (A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms) in hopes of exploring your favorite ASOIAF characters, in which there are plenty of stories that could be told about them, prepare to be sorely disappointed. This novella is a prequel to the state of the world, not the inhabitants you've been following for the better of... seemingly forever. No, The Hedge Knight aims to take you back to a simpler time - when things like chivalry and honor still existed, somewhat, in the Seven Kingdoms. There is no magic, dragons, Whitewalkers, zombie bears, wildlings, incestuous relationships... but there are Targaryens, and you can bet that wherever they are, there is sure to be a little political intrigue. With The Hedge Knight, Martin dials back his staple of massive multi-character story-lines, and instead opts to tell the entirety of the tale from the viewpoint of Dunk, a simple man who aims to put himself in the boots of a Knight, as his master was. While Dunk is a relatively good-natured man, he doesn't shy away from lying to get what he wants. For instance, he's never been Knighted, but he knows enough about the process to lie and enters the tourney. Of course, he soon finds that this world of Knights and Lords is a little different then he imagined - more of a popularity contest, then he imagines, and his views on Knighthood often clash with everyone else's. It's a smaller struggle then those you'd see in the main ASOIAF series, but I feel like it was a issue that a man would have in this world - at least, while war, magic, and metaphysical beings weren't threatening everything. A good portion, though I admit not as much as I'd thought, of this story is the relationship between Dunk and a boy he meets, Egg. Both of them are oddities in this world: Dunk being a honest, yet not so intelligent, man who seems things in a rather simple way, and Egg, who is a young, extremely intelligent, boy who has strong opinions on what a Knight should be, and is drawn to Dunk because of this. The latter also has a backstory that ties heavily into the plot, but I'll try not to spoil it for you. Together these two oddballs attempt to enter a tourney, with Egg as Dunk's squire . No, they don't really get embroiled in some massive plot, but there is a bit of intrigue to be had near the end of this tale. Which is nice and doesn't pull the story so far from whats expected from ASOIAF that it's completely alien. There are more of these stories out there, and I honestly am surprised more people don't know about them. It's true that The Hedge Knight is not the most complex thing Martin's wrote, nor is Westeros as dark and gritty as it's portrayed in either the original book series or the GoT television series. However, there really is enough of that to be had in the books, and I really enjoyed exploring a more contained plot in a friendlier world - The Hedge Knight shows readers how far the Seven Kingdoms have fell in a span of roughly a hundred years, -L. BROOKS
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