The Princess and the Queen

The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens
AuthorGeorge R. R. Martin
Audio read byIain Glen
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesA Song of Ice and Fire
Genre(s)Fantasy
Published inDangerous Women
PublisherTor Books
Media typeNovella
Publication dateDecember 3, 2013
Followed by"The Rogue Prince"

The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens is an epic fantasy novella by American novelist George R. R. Martin, published in the 2013 Tor Books anthology Dangerous Women.[1][2][3] The novella is presented in the form of writings by the fictional historian Archmaester Gyldayn, who is also the "author" of Martin's 2014 novella The Rogue Prince, a direct prequel to The Princess and the Queen.[4] The plot of both The Princess and the Queen and The Rogue Prince is later expanded further in the 2018 novel Fire & Blood, which also spawned a television series in 2022.

A spin-off of Martin's famed A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, The Princess and the Queen is set about 200 years before the events of A Game of Thrones (1996), and chronicles the "continent-burning warfare" of a Targaryen war of succession that explodes between heir to the throne Crown Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (whose supporters are known as "the blacks") and her stepmother Queen Alicent Hightower (supported by "the greens"), who conspired to usurp Rhaenyra and have her half-brother Aegon (Alicent's eldest son) crowned on the Iron Throne instead.[5][6][7] The resulting civil war is called the "Dance of the Dragons" due to the active involvement of dragonriders, and is designated the primary cause for the extinction of dragons in Westeros before the time of A Song of Ice and Fire.

  1. ^ "Dangerous Women Arrives on Tor.com". Tor.com. July 24, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Martin, George R. R. (January 23, 2013). "Not A Blog: A Dangerous Delivery". GRRM.livejournal.com. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  3. ^ "The Princess and The Queen, or, The Blacks and The Greens by George R.R. Martin". Goodreads. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Martin, George R. R. (March 12, 2014). "Not a Blog: The Rogues Are Coming..." GRRM.livejournal.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Driscoll, Molly (July 31, 2013). "George R.R. Martin's new novella will be a part of the anthology Dangerous Women". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  6. ^ "Fiction Book Review: Dangerous Women by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois". Publishers Weekly. October 7, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Franlich, Darren (December 6, 2013). "Book Review: Dangerous Women". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1288. p. 81. Retrieved July 16, 2014.