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6->''"He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire."''
7-->-- '''Rhaegar Targaryen''', ''Literature/AClashOfKings''
8
9''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a bestselling {{Doorstopper}} epic fantasy series written by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin. The series premiered in 1996, and there have been five books released in the series so far, with the most recent published in 2011.
10
11Set in a medieval fantasy world, the series primarily takes place on Westeros, a hemisphere-tall continent stretching from the Lands of Always-Winter at the north to the equatorial deserts of Dorne in the south. Westeros has historically been divided into "Seven Kingdoms," which warred against each other but banded together to face outside threats.
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13About 300 years before the story begins, Westeros was finally united under one man as a man from Valyria, Aegon Targaryen, called "Aegon TheConqueror," managed to get the fealty of (six of the) Seven Kingdoms. He managed to succeed where others had failed because Valyrians are {{Dragon Rider}}s, and flying flamethrowers have the edge over medieval knights in most cases. He founded a new capitol, crowned himself king, and ''[[BrotherSisterIncest married his sisters]],'' intending to preserve the MysticalWhiteHair and MysteriousPurple eyes of Valyria, and to prove that Targaryens are above the laws of gods and men. That may be true, but they are not above the laws of genetics, and by the year 285 [[HitSoHardTheCalendarFeltIt After Conquest]], RoyalInbreeding had done a number on House Targaryen; the secrets of dragon husbandry had been lost, and the most recent king, Aerys II, was called "[[TheCaligula the Mad]]" because he, uh, [[RoyallyScrewedUp was]]. A young lord named Robert Baratheon had his fiancée Lyanna abducted by Aerys's son; when King Aerys learned of this, he perpetrated a RevealingCoverup by simply having all of the fiancée's friends murdered. Robert, his BestFriend Lord Eddard Stark (also his fiancée's older brother), and their surrogate parent Lord Jon Arryn all rebelled, and the resulting CivilWar, the "War of TheUsurper," ended with the downfall of House Targaryen and King Robert on the throne. ...Though without Lyanna, who died during the war.
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15About fifteen years later, the story actually begins, quickly devolving into ThreeLinesSomeWaiting.
16* In the Lands of Always-Winter live a supernatural threat called "the Others," creatures of cold and snow and night. Some eight thousand years ago, they attacked, and were beat back by means now lost to history. The Wall, built of stone and snow and spell, was built across the top of the continent to keep them out, and an [[TheOrder ancient order]] BorderPatrol, the "Sworn Brotherhood of the Night's Watch," founded to guard it. Of course, in the ''eight thousand'' years since, the Night's Watch, once a calling of great honor, has fallen into disrepute; the people there are criminals who [[TradingBarsForStripes Traded Bars for Stripes]] alongside political dissidents who were ReassignedToAntarctica or KickedUpstairs. Jon Snow, the illegitimate son of Lord Eddard Stark (conceived and born during the War of the Usurper), ends up joining the organization... and learning that the Others are back.
17* Across the narrow sea on the nearby continent of Essos, the last two Targaryens live. Aerys II's son, Prince Viserys, is an ImpoverishedPatrician, his sister Daenerys a PrincessInRags. They've been trying to get someone to give them an army, against the promise of lavish future rewards, so that Viserys can finally reclaim his birthright; as the series starts, Viserys finally finds someone to take him up on the offer. According to their grandfather, King Jaehaerys II, "madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land." In Viserys's case, it becomes clear that the coin landed, LikeFatherLikeSon, on the "RoyalBrat BigBrotherBully" side. But his sister Daenerys was BornDuringAStorm and the RoyaltySuperpower runs true in her veins, as proved when she -- FirstEpisodeSpoiler -- ''hatches dragons'', [[TheMagicComesBack returning magic to the world]]. There's more to her destiny than it seems.
18* And of course no one in Westeros is paying attention to ''any'' of this because of a massive SuccessionCrisis called the "War of Five Kings," caused when the legitimacy of Robert's heirs, sired in the intervening years, are put into question. Three men -- Robert's eldest son Joffrey, and his younger brothers Renly and Stannis -- claim the Iron Throne, while two others simply seek to return their regions of Westeros to self-rule. The result is a bloody, chaotic CivilWar that strikes at the exact wrong time, with everyone forgetting the motto of Lord Eddard Stark's house: "[[AStormIsComing Winter is coming]]."
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20The novels feature a large ensemble cast, narrated in chapters that relate action from the third-person limited perspective of [[SwitchingPOV alternating protagonists]], some of them on [[AnotherSideAnotherStory opposing sides of a conflict]]. Many of the plots and subplots of the protagonists [[HyperlinkStory overlap with each other directly and indirectly]], [[TwoLinesNoWaiting while others merely parallel the central action or counterpoint it in key ways]].
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22In addition to the main series of novels, there are a variety of spin-offs and related media, including prequels and in-universe history texts.
23
24[[index]]
25!! Main series
26# ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'' (1996)
27# ''Literature/AClashOfKings'' (1998)
28# ''Literature/AStormOfSwords'' (2000)
29# ''Literature/AFeastForCrows'' (2005)
30# ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'' (2011)
31# ''The Winds of Winter'' (TBD) [[note]]Seven chapters [[https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/wiki/twow#wiki_released_chapters have been published as previews]]. Another four chapters were read at conventions, and subsequently transcribed online.[[/note]]
32# ''A Dream of Spring'' (TBD)
33
34!!Prequels and spin-off media
35* ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'': Novellas set 90 years before the main series.
36* ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'': An in-universe history book and encyclopedia [[FictionalDocument written by Maester Yandel as a gift to King Robert]], in which is compiled the history and culture of their world.
37* ''Literature/FireAndBlood'': A history book focused on the Targaryen dynasty written from an in-universe perspective. Served as basis for ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon''.
38* ''Literature/ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories'': Elements from ''Fire and Blood'' that were earlier published separately.
39** ''The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens''
40** ''The Rogue Prince, or, The King's Brother''
41** ''The Sons of the Dragon''
42* ''The Rise of the Dragon'': Covers the same material as the ''Fire and Blood'', but with more encyclopedic, ''The World of Ice and Fire''-like style.
43* ''The Feast of Ice and Fire'': an official [[invoked]]SpinOffCookbook.
44
45[[/index]]
46
47!!Sub-pages
48[[index]]
49* [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype/ASongOfIceAndFire Deconstructed Character Archetype]]
50* [[DeconstructedTrope/ASongOfIceAndFire Deconstructed Trope]]
51* [[FallenHero/ASongOfIceAndFire Fallen Hero]]
52
53[[/index]]
54
55!!!For adaptations and other spin-offs see ''Franchise.ASongOfIceAndFire''.
56
57For more information, see the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFire character sheet]] and [[http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/ GRRM's blog]].
58
59%%You can vote on the best book in the series [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/ASongOfIceAndFire?open=all#9p8tu0te here]]!
60
61As the page for the novels is already considerable and ever growing, please enter the tropes found only in the live action series and video game on their own pages.
62----
63!!This series provides examples of:
64
65[[index]]
66* ASongOfIceAndFire/TropesAToD
67* ASongOfIceAndFire/TropesEToI
68* ASongOfIceAndFire/TropesJToR
69* ASongOfIceAndFire/TropesSToZ
70[[/index]]
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