The Mystery Knight

Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Novella, Fantasy
Rating: A-

The third novella in George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg "The Mystery Knight" reunites us with Ser Dunk and Prince Egg, and of course Egg's boot.  In this story, Dunk and Egg are headed north when they are sidetracked by a wedding feast, and tourney, in honour of the marriage of Lord Ambrose Butterwell and a daughter of Lord Frey.  Things are not all what they seem at the tourney, however, and there is a lot of talk of the Blackfyre Rebellion.

I think the thing that I like most about "The Mystery Knight" was that it divulged more into the history of Westeros while also making it part of the present.  There's the whole cliché that history repeats, and here Martin proves just how true that is.  I like the way that Dunk's life has drastically changed since he met Egg, and I also really like how, despite being a Martin creation, he's a very likeable character.  He isn't exactly the brightest and he certainly isn't the best jouster - both facts which he is well aware of.  He's almost like a Stark in that you really can't help but root for him, no matter how many times his actions lead him into trouble.  In contrast, there's Egg who while being likeable is far more arrogant than his counterpart.  You learn a lot more about Westeros from the mouth of Egg than you do from the thoughts of Dunk, but half the time his mouth opens you can't help but cringe and hope that Dunk clouts him.  Especially when he's mentioning his boot, which the contents of have caused as much trouble as relief.

My favourite part of this story was the fact that Dunk finally got to see the consequences for some of his previous actions, notably those in "The Hedge Knight."  The consequences of that first story are huge, as is Dunk, and it's nice to see that people haven't forgotten him.  Likewise, it's nice to see consequences to Egg's arrogance.  I'm not exactly sure that Egg's learned from his actions, but a lot of "The Mystery Knight" was showing the reader just what would happen if Egg's identity ever became common knowledge. Even when he does pull out his boot things don't exactly go the way that he expects, although once again I'm not sure if Egg realizes as much yet.  Once again, I'm looking forward to the next installation in this series.

Week in Review: July 9 - 14

Movies - This week we've reviewed  The Amazing Spider-Man, People Like Us, and The Spiderwick Chronicles.  The best of the bunch was Spider-Man, while the worst was Spiderwick Chronicles, but I doubt anyone is really surprised by that.

Books - Book of the week was George R.R. Martin's novella "The Sworn Sword," the second in his Tales of Dunk and Egg series.

TV - TV show of the week was the first season of Grey's Anatomy, which I will eventually be following up with the rest of the series.

Recommendations - There isn't actually anything out in movies this week that I think I'm likely to see in theatres - the recommendations were either for movies that I'm a bit iffy about or else are only getting a limited release.  The DVD releases were, for the most part, DVDs I haven't heard of before but they've all caught my attention - that, and American Reunion, which I already know to have been good.

Next Week - Next week, I plan on reviewing Diana Gabaldon's Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Magic Mike, and, in celebration of the new Batman movie, Batman Begins. I plan on re-watching the first two films in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy before catching the midnight show of The Dark Knight Rises, so look forward to those reviews.

Requests - Anything out there that you'd like me to review?  A book? A movie? A TV show?  Let me know in the comments and I'll try to get to it.

The Sworn Sword

Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Novella, Fantasy
Rating: A-

The second in the Tales of Dunk and Egg series, “The Sworn Sword” follows hedge knight Duncan the Tall and his royal squire, Egg, into the service of the landed knight Eustace Chequey.  Chequey’s family were once great lords in the Reach but have since fallen on hard times, made all the much harder by a drought that is ravishing the land.  It is up to Dunk and Egg to discover just what’s happened to the Chequey water, preferably without starting a war between Chequey and the Lady Rohanne, Chequey’s wealthier neighbour.  It is also up to Dunk to show Egg a bit of humility – neither of which prove to be particularly easy tasks.

I said in “The Hedge Knight” that it was nice to read a Martin story without being constantly confused; in “The Sworn Sword” this confusion returns.  Not in full force, thankfully, but there are plenty of references to what happened to the duo in Dorne that lead the reader to question just what the hell happened in Dorne – and what happened with Tanselle Too-Tall.  This story reveals a lot more of the history of Westeros, although unlike its predecessor this is more in the form of what Dunk learns about his surroundings and in the exchanges between him and Egg than in their actual actions.  I really like the growing relationship between Dunk and Egg – more so here than in “The Hedge Knight” – and I enjoy the way in which this future king is being taught.  Of course, I think I would enjoy a story that dealt with dragons more, but I understand why Martin is straying from this – it makes sense both from the perspective of the plot and from that of training Egg in general.  My one thought at the end of this story was that I really hope “The Mystery Knight” doesn’t jump too far forward, as I would really like to see Dunk and Egg at the Wall.

The Hedge Knight

Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Novella, Fantasy
Rating: A

Set in the same world as George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, “The Hedge Knight” is the first in a series of short stores (and graphic novels) about Ser Duncan the Tall, or Dunk, and his squire Egg. “The Hedge Knight,” and the other stories in the Tales of Dunk and Egg are set about a hundred years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire.

As mentioned, “The Hedge Knight” is the first in this series and follows Dunk as he enters the Tourney of Ashford, following the death of his old master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree.  Dunk was an orphan from Flea Bottom who entered into Arlan’s service as a boy, and was knighted by Arlan shortly before his death.  While on his way to Ashford Dunk encounters a boy, Egg, at a tavern, who sneaks away in order to enter into Dunk’s service and act as his squire.  Not all is as seems with Egg, however, and his true identity is one that alters the course of Dunk’s life.

I really liked this story.  The complexity of it is nothing like that of the books from which it is conceived, and within the story Martin reveals a lot more of the world in which it’s based.  It’s rather nice reading something and not finding yourself constantly questioning just what’s going on and who’s plotting what and who’s going to die next.  Actually, that point alone is really nice – the mantra for A Song of Ice and Fire fans is to not get attached to any of the characters because you don’t know when they’re going to die, but with Dunk and Egg this isn’t the fact.  The story just follows the point of view of Dunk and, if you’ve read Martin’s novels you already know how he dies, and it certainly isn’t at Ashford.  This certainty doesn’t make “The Hedge Knight” any less exciting, it’s just more of a comfortable journey.  You get to know the characters and you get to get attached to them, without that little voice inside your head screaming at you saying ‘this is going to end badly.’  Really, when it comes down to it, “The Hedge Knight” is something that I didn’t know I could expect from Martin.