''The Sons of the Dragon'' is a
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
by
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
, set in the fictional land of
Westeros
The fictional world in which the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents, known collectively as The Known World.
Most of the story takes place on the continent of Westeros and in a ...
, the setting of Martin's ''
A Song of Ice and Fire
''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...
'' series. The story commences about 270 years before the start of ''
A Game of Thrones
''A Game of Thrones'' is the first novel in ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 1, 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award and was nominated for both ...
'' (1996). It portrays the death of Aegon I, known as "Aegon the Conqueror", and his two sons Aenys I, his successor to the throne, and Maegor I "the Cruel", in their respective successions to the throne thereafter, and the conflicts faced between them. The story concludes with the death of Maegor, and introduces the groundwork for its sequel, being about the life of his successor and nephew Jaehaerys I "the Conciliator", who reigned 55 years as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
Format
As with his previous Westerosi "histories", including ''
The World of Ice and Fire
''The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones'' is a companion book for George R. R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' fantasy series. Written by Martin, Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson, it was publi ...
'', ''
The Rogue Prince
''The Rogue Prince, or, a King's Brother'' is a novelette by George R. R. Martin, published in the 2014 Bantam Spectra anthology '' Rogues''. It is set on the continent of Westeros of Martin's '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' series, hundreds of ye ...
'' and ''
The Princess and the Queen
''The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens'' is an epic fantasy novella by American novelist George R. R. Martin, published in the 2013 Tor Books anthology '' Dangerous Women''. The novella is presented in the form of writing ...
'', Martin wrote ''The Sons of the Dragon'' from the perspective of a fictional Westerosi scholar, referred to in-universe as some rank of "maester". Unlike the previous works, attributed to Maester Yandel and Archmaester Gyldayn, the maester of ''The Sons of the Dragon'' remains anonymous throughout the story. At the conclusion of the novella, the unnamed maester notes that the following history of the Targaryen family, concerning the life of Jaehaerys I, would be a "task for another maester".
Background
Following an early 2017 leak that revealed plans for the novella to be included in the anthology ''
The Book of Swords'' (edited by Martin's longtime friend
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American people, American science fiction author and editing, editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ...
), Martin himself confirmed that the anthology was scheduled to be released on October 10, 2017, and confirmed that ''The Sons of the Dragon'' would be included.
The story was derived from previously written lengthier material that Martin had prepared for the companion book ''
The World of Ice & Fire
''The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones'' is a companion book for George R. R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' fantasy series. Written by Martin, Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson, it was publi ...
'', but was removed because the book was becoming too long for the original concept of a fully illustrated book. It and several other stories appeared in abridged versions in other anthologies.
The story is included in full in ''
Fire & Blood Fire and Blood may refer to:
* ''Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico'', a 1973 book by T. R. Fehrenbach
* ''Fire and Blood'' (Manowar DVD), a 1998 music DVD by Manowar
* ''Fire and Blood'' (Daugherty), a 2003 composition for solo violin and orche ...
''.
Publication
The novella was released by
Bantam Spectra
Bantam Spectra is the science fiction division of American publishing company Bantam Books, which is owned by Random House.
According to their website, Spectra publishes "science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative novels from recogniza ...
in October 2017 in hardcover, paperback and audiobook formats, all as the final story in ''The Book of Swords'' anthology. The audiobook edition was narrated by Ralph Lister, who previously collaborated with Martin and Dozois as narrator for their 2012 anthology ''
Down These Strange Streets
''Down These Strange Streets'' is an urban fantasy anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois and released on October 4, 2011.
Contents
* “The Bastard Stepchild” (Introduction) by George R. R. Martin
* “Death by Dahlia” ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sons of the Dragon, The
2017 American novels
American novellas
A Song of Ice and Fire books
Novels by George R. R. Martin
Bantam Spectra books