A dazzling illustrated edition of the book that started it all—for readers of A Song of Ice and Fire and fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones. She also hosts a number of podcasts including A Cast of Kings, Storm of Spoilers, and The Station Agents. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister—the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind.

Folio commissioned Hokyoung Kim for the artwork, while the late author’s wife, Wendy Benchley, provides a fascinating new introduction.Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Award-winning illustrator Jonathan Burton has provided a series of gorgeous colour illustrations that take the reader deeper into the realms of Westeros than ever before.

This spectacular set includes a new colour map of The Known World, folding out to reveal the full splendour of George R. There’s one piece where Ned is about to execute [Sansa’s direwolf] Lady, so [he’s] approaching Lady with a sword. The breath of man and horse mingled, steaming, in the cold morning air as his lord father had the man cut down from the wall and dragged before them. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow.So save your angry tweets, Ned enthusiasts: “If anyone ever points out that Ned is right-handed, we have to say, ‘Yes, but it was so much better in the composition when we flipped it! It’s just one example of how the new illustrated edition can root readers more firmly in the world Martin has created—you never know which details he forgot to include. As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. A dazzling illustrated edition of the book that started it all—for readers of A Song of Ice and Fire and fans of HBO’sGame of Thrones.