Fire Of The Blood

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work, the inspiration for HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon “The thrill of Fire & Blood is the thrill of all Martin’s fantasy work: familiar myths debunked, the whole trope table flipped.”—Entertainment Weekly Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart. What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty-five black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley—including five illustrations exclusive to the trade paperback edition. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed. With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros. Praise for Fire & Blood “A masterpiece of popular historical fiction.”—The Sunday Times “The saga is a rich and dark one, full of both the title’s promised elements. . . . It’s hard not to thrill to the descriptions of dragons engaging in airborne combat, or the dilemma of whether defeated rulers should ‘bend the knee,’ ‘take the black’ and join the Night’s Watch, or simply meet an inventive and horrible end.”—The Guardian

It didn't start with fire and blood. It started with a man, drinking alone in a bar, thinking about a woman, and whether or not to kill her. Meet Isabrand and Mallory, siblings separated at a young age. Their family has a few problems. To start, Isabrand has been hired to assassinate his sister. But overcoming his childhood love for her won't be as easy as he'd hoped, especially when Mallory begins to tell him her life story: details of a horrific childhood at an orphanage for supernatural beings, called the Academy, before finally being rescued by estranged family. Yet family is never what it seems, as Mallory discovers she is part of an ancient legacy of dragon shape-shifters and witches known as dragoviks. After a murder takes place in her town, Mallory knows she must act to protect her newfound family and home. Joining forces with a team of fellow dragoviks, she begins down a path that will determine her fate. Her future ahead of her, she must decide whether to move forward or return to her past.

"A tremendously compelling debut of rare skill" (Phil Klay) about a traumatized US Army soldier who goes AWOL to unravel the mystery of his wife's death. The story begins with a relatively mundane mission--someone owes someone else money--that's situated in a grimy walled, deep-shadowed apartment building in New York. A guy and his team end up with a captive in the backseat of their car: as planned. They drive past streetlights and then there is a thump, a body on their windshield, and a woman is left crumpled and bloodied in the snow. In Afghanistan, meanwhile, US Army soldier Coop is restless, bothered by the new guy and worried that all the inaction means he missed the war. When he's called to the Captain's office urgently, he's sure that someone knows his darkest secret and has reported him, but then his life ends a different way. His wife, Kay Bellante, is dead. Coop is given a brief leave to fly home and attend to Kay's affairs, but while back in the city, Coop discovers his wife's death was far more suspicious than anyone told him. Isolated and haunted by the echoes of battle, he decides to go AWOL, using his military training to uncover the real story behind Kay's sudden death. When he begins to circle in on the truth, Coop finds himself in a new war with the Albanian mafia, a crooked rehab clinic, and the Bellantes, a powerful and vindictive family of financial elites. And while searching the shadows of the Bronx, Coop must also navigate the small ordinary dramas we fill our lives with as we move from war to home to war. Humming with mystery, grief, heartache, and the kinds of emotions we feel first in our blood, this is a thriller written for a fearful America from an exciting new voice in fiction.

From the celebrated author of the international bestseller Suite Française, a newly discovered novel, a story of passion and long-kept secrets, set against the background of a rural French village in the years before World War II.Written in 1941, Fire in the Blood – only now assembled in its entirety – teems with the intertwined lives of an insular French village in the years before the war, when "peace" was less important as a political state than as a coveted personal condition: the untroubled pinnacle of happiness. At the center of the novel is Silvio, who has returned to this small town after years away. As his narration unfolds, we are given an intimate picture of the loves and infidelities, the scandals, the youthful ardor and regrets of age that tie Silvio to the long-guarded secrets of the past.

Years ago, the skies ripped open and the world was destroyed in fire and ash. Dragons - once creatures of legend - are the enemy. Vicious and unpredictable, they rule the skies of the ruined cities, forcing humanity to huddle behind barricades for safety.Claudia's a survivor. She scrapes by as best as she can in a hard, dangerous world. When she runs afoul of the law, she's left as bait in dragon territory. She only has one chance to survive - to somehow 'tame' a dragon and get it to obey her.Except the dragon that finds her is as wild and brutal as any other...and he's not interested in obeying.What he is interested in is a mate.

Of Blood and Fire is a classic Epic Fantasy adventure. It takes all the familiar fantasy tropes - elves, dwarves, giants, and dragons - and adds a fresh, contemporary twist.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns with book one of the all-new, compelling Flesh and Fire series—set in the beloved Blood and Ash world. Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort. However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot. Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes a new novel in her Blood and Ash series… Is Love Stronger Than Vengeance? A Betrayal… Everything Poppy has ever believed in is a lie, including the man she was falling in love with. Thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. But what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as him. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that’s one order she’s more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her. A Choice…. Casteel Da’Neer is known by many names and many faces. His lies are as seductive as his touch. His truths as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive, healthy, and whole to achieve his goals. But he’s the only way for her to get what she wants—to find her brother Ian and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. Working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she’s ever wanted. Casteel has plans for her. Ones that could expose her to unimaginable pleasure and unfathomable pain. Plans that will force her to look beyond everything she thought she knew about herself—about him. Plans that could bind their lives together in unexpected ways that neither kingdom is prepared for. And she’s far too reckless, too hungry, to resist the temptation. A Secret… But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince. Whispers of war have become stronger, and Poppy is at the very heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message. The Descenters want her dead. The wolven are growing more unpredictable. And as her abilities to feel pain and emotion begin to grow and strengthen, the Atlantians start to fear her. Dark secrets are at play, ones steeped in the blood-drenched sins of two kingdoms that would do anything to keep the truth hidden. But when the earth begins to shake, and the skies start to bleed, it may already be too late.