The Hedge Knight I & II by Ben Avery
Last year I gave in and began watching Game of Thrones. It was a huge binge but I managed to get it in before the finale, so that was the first show I watched live. I was stunned by the quality of the production. HBO has really stepped up their game, and with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu also in the mix, the big three networks are falling behind. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact that they have a lot more time to fill than the others. HBO, Netflix, and Hulu have other media that can satisfy their subscribers. The networks have 21 hours of primetime to fill and they can't just throw a movie up and hope it works.
Since the last seasons are coming up and rabid fans are already experiencing the feels, people have started talking about a prequel series. I asked my friends who have actually read the series what that would look like, and one of them mentioned the Hedge Knight series (and then provided me with the graphic novels! Thanks Brit!).
The series begins with our hero, Dunk, a squire, burying his knight who has unfortunately died of a chill. Not knowing what to do next, Dunk decides to don the armor of his former master and become a knight himself. Now everyone knows that's not the way you become a knight, so Dunk has to tread carefully. He heads to the nearest market town with the few coins the knight had in his possession and finds a place to eat and sleep. While there, he meets a young boy named Egg and reluctantly takes him on as his squire. He finds out that Egg is actually Aegon Targaryon, youngest son of the currently ruling king. His father eventually decides that Egg could use some more experience, so he continues with Dunk, now going by Ser Duncan the Tall.
The second volume continues their journey several months later. There is now a drought throughout the land and Dunk and Egg have a lord they are serving. It's not an ideal situation. He picked the wrong side in the last war and has lost a lot of his property as a consequence. Dunk arrives back from trying to get some wine to discover that their one source of water, a river that runs through the property, has suddenly dried up. He investigates to find that a neighbor has diverted the river to irrigate her lands. Words are had; blood is shed. Things go from bad to worse pretty quickly. Eventually Dunk finds that his lord is perhaps not all he led Dunk and Egg to believe, which releases them from his service.
It's not a bad series. It immerses you in the Game of Thrones world and lets you live there a little longer, so if HBO were going to make a prequel, it would work. One thing, though. It's awfully tame. This is like the Sesame Street version of Game of Thrones. Not a single bare breast or naked dong in sight. No hot doggy style lovin'. No incest. Not even the occasional f-bomb. YAWN! This could be on network TV! Why would HBO want to develop this?
Even putting aside my r-rated viewing proclivities, I found it a little too disconnected. Yes, Targaryen, Martell, Dorne, and other recognizable names and places are tossed around, but I don't know how any of them relate. I would have loved to have a family tree at the end. Just something to link these characters to the ones I'm familiar with from the show. Even if you could only do one family tree an issue that would have kept me more interested.
Now my friend Brittny tells me that for people who have read the books, there are basically Easter eggs throughout that will link the Game of Thrones series to this. I think that would have made this much more enjoyable for me. So I would say that this series would be best read by people who have read the Song of Ice and Fire series, but I think I'm kind of preaching to the choir here. I guess the best thing I can say is that if you haven't read the series and you are interested in them, start there before getting into these.
Since the last seasons are coming up and rabid fans are already experiencing the feels, people have started talking about a prequel series. I asked my friends who have actually read the series what that would look like, and one of them mentioned the Hedge Knight series (and then provided me with the graphic novels! Thanks Brit!).
The series begins with our hero, Dunk, a squire, burying his knight who has unfortunately died of a chill. Not knowing what to do next, Dunk decides to don the armor of his former master and become a knight himself. Now everyone knows that's not the way you become a knight, so Dunk has to tread carefully. He heads to the nearest market town with the few coins the knight had in his possession and finds a place to eat and sleep. While there, he meets a young boy named Egg and reluctantly takes him on as his squire. He finds out that Egg is actually Aegon Targaryon, youngest son of the currently ruling king. His father eventually decides that Egg could use some more experience, so he continues with Dunk, now going by Ser Duncan the Tall.
The second volume continues their journey several months later. There is now a drought throughout the land and Dunk and Egg have a lord they are serving. It's not an ideal situation. He picked the wrong side in the last war and has lost a lot of his property as a consequence. Dunk arrives back from trying to get some wine to discover that their one source of water, a river that runs through the property, has suddenly dried up. He investigates to find that a neighbor has diverted the river to irrigate her lands. Words are had; blood is shed. Things go from bad to worse pretty quickly. Eventually Dunk finds that his lord is perhaps not all he led Dunk and Egg to believe, which releases them from his service.
It's not a bad series. It immerses you in the Game of Thrones world and lets you live there a little longer, so if HBO were going to make a prequel, it would work. One thing, though. It's awfully tame. This is like the Sesame Street version of Game of Thrones. Not a single bare breast or naked dong in sight. No hot doggy style lovin'. No incest. Not even the occasional f-bomb. YAWN! This could be on network TV! Why would HBO want to develop this?
Even putting aside my r-rated viewing proclivities, I found it a little too disconnected. Yes, Targaryen, Martell, Dorne, and other recognizable names and places are tossed around, but I don't know how any of them relate. I would have loved to have a family tree at the end. Just something to link these characters to the ones I'm familiar with from the show. Even if you could only do one family tree an issue that would have kept me more interested.
Now my friend Brittny tells me that for people who have read the books, there are basically Easter eggs throughout that will link the Game of Thrones series to this. I think that would have made this much more enjoyable for me. So I would say that this series would be best read by people who have read the Song of Ice and Fire series, but I think I'm kind of preaching to the choir here. I guess the best thing I can say is that if you haven't read the series and you are interested in them, start there before getting into these.
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