A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

I have been sitting on this omnibus of GRRM stories for a while. Not sure why. This book gathers the first 3 tales of Dunk and Egg, a hedge knight and his squire, set earlier in the history of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. Dunk (or Ser Duncan the Tall) is a hedge knight making his way through the world of Westeros, having taken on his role after the death of the knight he was formerly squiring for. Egg is a mysterious boy who Dunk takes on as his squire after he shows an interest. It transpires that Egg is actual fact a prince of the realm, Aegon Targaryen.

The first tale deals with how Dunk and Egg meet and a tourney were Dunk first makes a name for himself (and an enemy). Dunk takes on Egg as his squire (with the blessing of his father). The second story sees Dunk serving as a knight for minor lord who has fallen from grace. It later transpires he was on the wrong side of the Blackfyre Rebellion and stripped of his holdings. Dunk makes the best of a bad situation before leaving with his honor intact. The third story again references the Blackfyre Rebellion, where Dunk accidentally finds himself at a wedding tourney that is a secret cover meeting for some conspirators for a second rebellion. He foils this with the help of Egg.

These small pastiches of Westeros before the events of ASOIAF build some fun background to the main story. The characters are both referenced in the main sequence so this expands the mythology in a really fun and effective way. The stories themselves are enjoyable, but losing the politicking of the main story does lower the impact of them somewhat, but as stories of a hedge knight and a squire these work well