Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5014364-20171011002104

Having just read through the new short story The Sons of the Dragon, some new info:

First, for those who don't know: George R.R. Martin wrote one really huge history of the Targaryen kings in a giant burst of creativity (having writers' block on some part of the main novels at the time), for the sourcebook The World of Ice and Fire".  It was so ridiculously large that it wasn't published - he was just supposed to write sidebars.  So they edited down some bits of it as a basis for The World of Ice and Fire.  Some parts more than others:  the Targaryen Conquest history was 8,000 words or so and put into the World book entirely.  The Dance of the Dragons was heavily edited down - but it was actually released as "The Princess and the Queen" BEFORE the World book was released (or at least most of it - the novella stops three quarters of the way through, and leaves bits out, which World'' book only glossed over in general outline of how the war ended).

These are the major eras in which potential prequels can and will be set. Dance of the Dragons is the odds-on favorite (it's the largest, has the biggest cast, most action, it "feels" a lot like the War of the Five Kings). You see they're written as in-universe history books, they're just outlines, but if "narrativized" could be much longer stories. I mean, just reading the Dance of the Dragons novellas, you realize "this could easily sustain a five year long TV show".

Martin has remarked that the story of the "Sons of the Dragon", Aenys and Maegor, and the Faith Militant uprising, could be the basis for three full novels if they were adapted (not as big as the main novels, but regular sized novels). I think it would break down as Season 1: "From the death of Aegon I to death of his first son Aenys, a too-polite diplomatic weakling", Season 2: "The rise of Maegor, Aenys's half-brother, a ruthless warrior and brutal tyrant, the Cain to his Abel" Season 3: "The fight against Maegor" culminating in his death and the crowning of Aenys's son Jaehaerys. I don't see this as a stand-alone TV series, so much as...the "Targaryen Conquest" should be split across two seasons: one for the Conquest, one for the First Dornish War that came after, and the Sons of the Dragon era would be like, Seasons 3 to 5 (functionally; maybe it would be split into its own retitled series - same thing).

The Sons of the Dragon wasn't nearly as big of a burst of information as the Dance of the Dragons prequel novellas, or even The Rogue Prince (sort of "Part Zero" of the Dance, giving background on all its characters). We knew a lot of this already from the World book. And, it just so happened, that accidentally released page spread from the World book that wiki folks got our hands onto a few years back (which described a lot). Plus GRRM himself did a live read of the story up until the death of Aenys and crowning of Maegor - we got a lot of info already.

but of course, for those who aren't hyper-obsessively following this but mostly following the main novels and TV show, I guess it would be a whole burst of new information. I hope so, good to have fans for everything. 