robert saleda

Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities...there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.... Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand...to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandalled feet.

Game of Thrones fans watch in delight as the epic battle of Lannister and Stark entangles the Seven Kingdoms. But only the sharpest notice how these houses echo Lancaster and York in the War of the Roses. Druids, Catholics, and even Zoroastrians wander through Westeros, reframing their religions for a new world of fantasy. But how medieval is Westeros? Did lady knights and pirates really battle across Europe? The audiobook Winter is Coming: Symbols and Hidden Meanings in A Game of Thrones explores all this and more, from the echoes of history to the symbols and omens our beloved characters.

Game of Thrones, book and show alike, is spun from classic myth, from the tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur to the Norse Ring Cycle and saga of Ragnarok. Above all these human adventures soar Daenerys' dragons adapted from the dragons, wyverns, and wyrms of Western bestiaries. But what about the merlings, seal folk, wargs, greenseers, grumpkins, and snarks: Which mythologies created them?