As I type this, Season Five of the Game of Thrones TV series has just started around the world, and there will be many viewers who will be thinking ahead, not backward.

As a result, I’m not quite sure of the purpose of this book. Is it for those readers who want to add more detail to something that they saw a year or (in the case of Season 3) two years ago? Is it for those currently catching up the series on DVD, and Bluray, or re-watching before they watch Season Five?

Whatever its purpose, it must be said that the book itself is as you should expect. With its padded cover, it is lavishly produced on heavy stock paper, and is filled with colour photos throughout. The text mainly deals with the key plot points of the two seasons: Jon Snow beyond the Wall, the rise of Daenerys and her dragons, the Red Wedding, the rise and fall of Joffrey and so on. Throughout there are interviews with most of the main actors, talking about how the series is going for them, where they think their respective characters are and are going, and so on.

In addition to this, there are glimpses of what it is like to produce such a massive undertaking. Interviews with writers, costume designers, production planners and the composer of the music are all included and generally add to the feeling that the series is getting bigger, broader in scope and deeper by these seasons.

There are also handy summaries of some of the key elements of the plot and of the characters who have more to play in these two series – The Brotherhood Without Banners, The Wildlings, The Unsullied, The Faith of the Seven, Houses Tully and Frey, Jaime and Brienne, Oberyn Martell, Sandor Clegane, Beric Dondarrion and The Lord of Light, Gilly and Samwell Tarly. Whilst at one level much of the material included is pretty much what you expect – working on the series is great, it’s a wonderful experience, the other actors and actresses are wonderful to work with – there are elements that el

evate this beyond mere hagiography.

Some of the production drawings are great and there’s a mindboggling production schedule from the filming in Iceland. There’s little snippets of previously unmentioned details of the production through the interviews as well. For example, I was greatly amused by the point George RR Martin tells us that he had hoped to be filmed in the background of the Red Wedding, but scheduling commitments meant it didn’t happen. On another positive note, the cast reacting to the loss of major performers as friends as well as characters generally give what seems to be a genuine warmth to the proceedings.

In summary, the guide is as good as you would expect, with enough for fans finding out hitherto unknown details of the actors and the production of the series as well as others wanting to discover more about the TV series without giving away too many spoilers.

Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones, Season 3 & 4.

Published by Gollancz, April 2015

ISBN: 978 1 473 20618 2

192 pages

Review by Mark Yon April 2015

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