Título del libro: The world of ice & fire

Escrito por George R. R. Martin

DESCRIPCIÓN Y/O SINOPSIS DE ESTE EBOOK

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 & Fire.

This lavishly illustrated volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s Game of Thrones. In a collaboration that’s been years in the making, Martin has teamed with Elio M. García, Jr., and Linda Antonsson, the founders of the renowned fan site Westeros.org—perhaps the only people who know this world almost as well as its visionary creator.

Collected here is all the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers, including

• full-color artwork and maps, with more than 170 original pieces
• full family trees for Houses Stark, Lannister, and Targaryen
• in-depth explorations of the history and culture of Westeros
• 100% all-new material, more than half of which Martin wrote specifically for this book

The definitive companion piece to George R. R. Martin’s dazzlingly conceived universe, The World of Ice & Fire is indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords.

BREVE FICHA TÉCNICA DEL LIBRO

Formato del ebook: Kindle PDF EPUB MOBI
Tamaño del archivo: 209086 KB
Longitud de impresión: 336 páginas
Editorial/Editado por: Bantam (28 de octubre de 2014)
Idioma: Inglés

OPINIONES:

Not Bad, But Know What You’re Buying
I have no complaints about this book. 3 stars is the most I can give it, but, I knew what I was getting when I plunked down my money, so I hope that “only” giving it 3/5 isn’t seen as some sort of knock.
I would, however, like to post this review for those who are thinking about buying it and might want some more information. This is not Book 6 in the series, nor should it be seen as a substitute for it. It’s also not the Silmarillion. That is, i’ts not a detailed and exhaustive narrative on what has come before Books 1-5. It’s a coffee table book with gorgeous artwork and some tidbits of information on the world of Westeros, most of which will be posted in various wiki entries for free within 60 days.
I am enough of a die-hard fan of the series that, even knowing all of this, I was perfectly willing to pre-order it. If this label does not apply to you, however, you might want to think twice before paying $30 (more or less) for it.

Tries to hard to be to many things
Know what you are buying. Is this a book written by George R. R. Martin? Sort of. Is this a book written by two of his friends? Sort of. Is it a well illustrated book? Yes. Is this a definitive history of Westeros? Not at at all. In truth I am not really sure what to make of this book, it has very nice illustrations, but a lot the writing is clearly not Martins work and left me finally understanding how a dog feels when you speak to it and it just kind of tilts his head looking at you with that wtf look on it’s face. It left me wondering what exactly is the purpose of this book?
As a definitive history it falls short in ever aspect. The book is written in the form of an unreliable narrator and from the first page it’s clear much of the information is wrong. Martin himself has spoken of a book he will write in the future that will be called «Fire and blood.» Which will be like this book but much larger, more accurate, and hopefully written by Martin himself.
Now just to be clear both Elio and Linda have pointed out that they took liberties with the material Martin supplied them, filling in blanks with their own ideas and such. And that’s ok because the book is not suppose to be reliable, that’s the purpose of the unreliable narrator. Elio and Linda have also stated in a video on their own fan site that things are and can be wrong.
The book itself is suppose to be written in world but I have a hard time getting into the world because the writing is not really Martins and does not feel like his, the in character author of this book sort of jokingly points that out in the book. The style is different and the dialogue often becomes more modern in tone than Martins work. At other times it feels like I am reading a comic and yet other times a Dungeon Masters guide to Westeros. There are some issues with the names of characters that seem a bit more childish that Martins work such as Darkrobin, Talon, the Howling Mountain, and Druselka. It just did not feel like Martin to me and of course there is a reason for that.
The original idea according to Martin on his web site Not a blog was for this to be an illustrated book and Martin writing the sidebars. They probably should of stuck with that idea, and it would have been a true coffee table book. Instead it’s a sort of history, a sort of story, a sort of in world book, a sort of Martin book, a sort of fan book, a sort of illustrated coffee table book. It feels like it tries to be to many things and lacks a single focused idea of what it wants to be. That’s another problem with the book is that the writers try to hard to be something they are not, they are trying to be Martin. I know they say they are not, but they are, they chose the unreliable narrator, they chose to write in character in his world and in truth he is the only one who should be doing that.
Another problem is the price, 50 bucks at Barns and Noble, 30 bucks on Amazon, Really? Give it some time, if you are a fan who must have it don’t make the same mistake I did, wait and give the price a chance to drop. Also I know it’s the internet age but you can always go into a Barns and Noble and check it out for yourself, spend 45 minutes with it, if you must have it get it. If you feel like you are fine waiting till it gets cheaper or you just don’t like it that’s fine two. It’s not really going to to tell you much that is not already in the books or on wiki pages.
My advice is to hit the book store and check it out for yourself, you may or may not like it, nothing wrong with test driving something you pay for. If you want to read Martin maybe try the Ice Dragon which was just rereleased not long ago and is only 11 bucks on Amazon.
It’s not a bad book I am just not sure what it is, It’s a sort of history, in world unreliable POV story, illustrated guide to Westeros with pretty pictures, and little new information, that was sort of written by 3 different people.
Most of what I am saying is not huge deal, it has it’s good points, it really does, the biggest problem I have is that the book goes out of it’s way to make it look like it was written by Martin. All you have to do is look at the cover, Martins name in big giant letters. I see fans writing reviews and giving this book 5 stars and they say if you are expecting a story written by Martin this is not the book for you. Well of course people are expecting Martin to have written it, his name appears in big giant letters on the cover of the book which is about the world he created. Why wouldn’t you have expected him to have written it, not all fans of his work hang out on Not a blog and A forum of ice and fire.

More of a reference tool than a readable book
There’s no denying that this book is beautifully done. It’s WAY larger than I’d expected, and it’s clear that years of effort went into the production. After reading through it for a few days, I’ve concluded that it’s only real flaw is that it’s… well… kinda boring.
I get the premise… that it’s supposed to be written by a maester who is compiling the history from several sources, which is cute, but it really bogs down the writing. Rather than writing out the history as various stories, many entries are along the lines of: «They were known as the hairy men. Some say they came from here, but others say they came from there. While many believed they could do this, others said they could do that, and still others say they never existed.» At the end of a long, drawn out paragraph about people that are completely irrelevant to the Ice and Fire stories, I feel more confused than when I started. After a few massive pages of this stuff, it’s hard to stay interested.
Don’t get me wrong… there’s still plenty of interesting info in this book. But do I really need to know about the personality of some random Targaryen’s fifth wife? Then sixth? Then seventh? This book really works better as an encyclopedia to reference as you read the books and watch the show, rather than a book you’d read cover-to-cover (which would take a lot of dedication, patience and time).
It’s an impressive book that answers a lot of questions you probably have, but I am a little disappointed that it’s not more readable. I was ready to plow through it as I waited for the next Ice and Fire book, but now I’m not sure that’s going to happen.