George R. R. Martin, the American writer focusing mainly on fantasy and sci-fi genre, became popular amongst the reading community and the general public primarily by his book series A Song of Ice and Fire followed by a serial hit called Game of Thrones, which is based on these books, even though it has been changed a lot. The world and history of Westeros Martin created in his books and readers’ minds, are very broad, and we can find other stories besides A Song of Ice and Fire saga there. The Mystery Knight is one of them. It is already the third sequel to stories about Duncan Tall, a hedge knight, and Egg, a prince from the house of Targaryen travelling in disguise.
These stories take place around 100 years before Game of Thrones. Egg, born Aegon V Targaryen, son of Prince Maekar, is travelling with Sir Duncan Tall and pretends to be his esquire because he needs to hide before his enemies. To make sure that no one recognises him, he is bald. If anyone saw his hair, shining like a beaten gold with strands of silver woven together, everyone would know who he is. Moreover, even though he is Maekar’s fourth-born son, he is the future king of Westeros.
All of Martin’s stories of Egg and Duncan (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight) were adapted by Ben Avery as graphic novels. Ben Avery’s adaptation works well with Martin’s style, and the plot maintains a brisk pace. Stories of Dunk and Egg are roughly mentioned in A Song of Ice and Fire; however, they have not been developed until this series. Readers who do not know the previous two parts of the story can be a bit lost in the beginning; however, Avery tries to explain previous adventures quickly and briefly in the very beginning. Then, it is very easy to dive into the story because you will see that there is going on much more than just a wedding and knight tournaments.
In comparison to A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, The Mystery Knight is interesting mainly because it depicts the era when Targaryens were in power in Westeros. It is also interesting how different is the point of view in this story. We are used to reading about royal families fighting over power in Martin’s stories, but here we see the point of view of a lower class, mainly hedge knights. This is what Duncan is like. He does not feel well in the presence of authorities, and he gets on the best with people from his class, which seems quite ironic considering his role in Westeros in the future.
On the other hand, Egg creates a balance between the world of the lower and upper class by being from a royal family but serving as an esquire to Duncan. There is good chemistry between these two main characters. They help each other if it is needed, they can pull the other one back to the Earth, and they balance their bad characteristics, such as Egg’s stubbornness and Duncan’s inability to predict danger.
Illustrations by Mike S. Miller are very well-done, and they can pull a reader into the story. Every character is somehow specific, and even though you would forget anyone’s name, you would recognise them by their face. You will notice skilfully drawn expressions of individual characters and fighting scenes. Those are so well drawn that you will not get lost in a field and will keep a good track of what is going on. The deep colours J. Nanjan and Sivakami Mohan gave to Miller’s illustrations nicely resonate throughout the whole book and make the story even more engaging.
The Mystery Knight is undoubtedly a beautiful piece of reading for all newbies in the world created by George R. R. Martin, sworn fans and readers who love comics. It is a great sight for an eye and an excellent book to read, and it is interesting to discover a history of Westeros which has been mentioned only in books. Avery’s adaptation works very well both with this fictional world and the tone Martin set to the plot, additionally accompanied by illustrations which nicely extend the whole story.
The book is fun to read, well made and either you are just beginning to discover Westeros or broaden the knowledge you already have; it should not be left out of your bookcase.
