"Oh my, what a BEAST of a book! This book is 750 pages in Mass Market Paperback, and you feel that length here. This is basically an in universe History Book for the Targaryen Dynasty, and tells the story of Aegon the Conqueror through the beginning of Aegon III's reign. There is supposed to be a sequel book that covers the rest of Targaryen history...but this is George R. R. Martin, so that probably won't happen, at least not for a while!

This book might be dry for some readers, but I personally was riveted. The political intrigue and the bloodline discussions and line of succession was fascinating to me. George Martin has a way of writing political intrigue that few authors can rightly replicate.

The book was most interesting to me during the reign of King Jaehaerys. This was probably the most "Stable" portion of the book, but his rulership of Westeros I found fascinating...although I did enjoy the temultuous elements of the reign of Aegon the Conqueror, Aenys I, and Maegor. The story of the Dance of the Dragons is just heartbreaking and sad to read. I am not ready for Seasons 3 and 4 of House of the Dragon to just gut me.

One thing the book has that I didn't love was explicit discussions about sexual elements. Game of Thrones and the A Song of Ice and Fire had this as well, but this being a "history book" could have handled it in a much more appropriate way. I think George feels it is required in his writing, but he absolutely could have kept the feel of Westeros without the explicit nature of the book.

Now, the themes about governance and leadership are just fascinating. I think many an essay could be written about what leadership can be learned from this book, even though it is still fiction.

Overall, I actually had a blast with this book, although I was disappointed by some areas that I believe could have been cut or refocused. Nonetheless, I'll give this book an 8.5 out of 10!"

"Enjoyable trilogy. Not as good as the second or first books. But still good."