The Hedge Knight

The Hedge Knight, based on a story by George R. R. Martin with artwork by Ben Avery and others): I bought the first volume of George R. R. Martin's massive fantasy series when it first came out, but for some reason never got around to reading it (let's see, 1996...in the middle of working 80 hours a week on Wall Street, then, no wonder I had no time!). Several subsequent volumes came out, but I did not buy them, as they fell under the radar screen (more working on Wall Street, but "other events"). However, thanks to various postings at SF Signal, as well as some very positive reviews at Locus, I decided to get the volumes I missed and read the series.

The Hedge Knight was listed as a "prequel" to the series at Amazon. I did not look too closely at the description when I ordered it, so imagine my surprise when I found it to be a comic boo....errrr...graphic novel. I'll be quite honest, I'm not a big fan of the graphic novel genre. I couldn't tell you squat about the origins of The Green Lantern. The only Wolverine I know about would be a critter running around in the frozen wastes. I've tried reading comics several times, over the years, but they usually leave me cold. I prefer non-graphic books and stories. I like building the pictures in my head!

So, when I found that The Hedge Knight was a graphic novel, I did not think I'd enjoy it. Surprise, I did. It's a nice little story about chivalry in the universe that Martin is developing (at length!) in the longer novels. It tells of Dunc, eventually Ser Duncan the Tall and his would-be squire, Egg. Duncan aspires to be a knight, but thinks at best he'll be a hedge knight (a freelancer or a mercenary who practics chivalry and ethics). In a land of pomp and circumstance, fancy armor and rigid class lines, he seems to be one of the few who remembers that in addition to expected service from the serfs, you're there to protect them as well.

You get a bit of background on the Thrones universe, a tiny bit on the religion, the customs, the existence of dragons, etc. And, it is a good tale. (Luckily for me, it is taken from a written work. Unluckily, I'll have to hunt down the anthology that it appeared in!)

Martin's fantasy series appeals to me because it seems to be of high quality (based on reviews and what little I've read so far—but I must say that I have a lot of experience with his science fiction and have enjoyed everything thing I've read by him ever since running across the Windover tales he co-wrote with Lisa Tuttle in Analog oh those many years ago!) His Wild Cards series were the closest I've gotten to the superhero genre and I enjoyed the television show Beauty and the Beast (well, the first season!). I look forward to seeing how the epic develops, and I'll even hunt down the future (announced on his website) graphic adventures of Ser Duncan and Egg. (Hmmm...knights...and now there are model knights from the series to hunt!)