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GAME OF THRONES: A NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, NOW ON HBO.
Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin’s monumental epic cycle of high fantasy. Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace . . . only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.
A FEAST FOR CROWS
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears. . . . With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.
But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.
It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes . . . and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors. 作者簡介
George R. R. Martin's bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series has earned him the title of 'the American Tolkien'. The first book of the series has been made into a HBO TV adaptation, A Game of Thrones. He is the author of eight novels, several collections of short stories and numerous screenplays for television drama and feature films. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
喬治·雷濛德·理查德·馬丁(Geoger Raymond Richard Martin)歐美奇幻小說大師。1948年9月20日齣生於美國新澤西州的貝約恩,在伊利諾伊州伊凡斯頓的西北大學就讀,主修新聞寫作,1971年取得碩士學位。馬丁的作品主要以人物為關注點,描寫細膩豐富,突破瞭幻想文學界固有的創作模式,多次引領閱讀潮流。代錶作有十大浪漫太空歌劇之一的《光逝》、由雨果奬獲奬名篇擴展而成的《風港》、在雜誌讀者群中深受愛戴的《圖夫航行記》,以及當代正統奇幻的第一經典《冰與火之歌》等。由於馬丁的輝煌成就,他被譽為美國的托爾金和新世紀的海明威。從1989年開始,馬丁淡齣文學界,轉而投身演藝界發展,其中包括《美女與野獸》的編劇和The Twilight Zone的劇本編輯。1996年他纔重返文壇而開始奇幻文學的創作,處女作便是《權力的遊戲》(The Game Of Throne),即為《冰與火之歌》(The Song Of Fire And Ice)的首部麯。雖然封筆幾近10年,但大師風範猶在,《權力的遊戲》甫齣便拿下瞭British Fantasy Society、 世界奇幻奬和星雲奬年度最佳幻想作品提名,即使是由其中抽取章節編成的Blood of the Dragon也獲得多個最佳中篇奬,在科幻奇幻界引起極大的反響。在非官方的不記名奇幻作品投票中,《冰與火之歌》儼然已經可以和《魔戒》平起平坐,作者網站的訪問量也是和斯蒂芬·金、J.K.羅琳等不相上下,其受歡迎的程度可見一斑。他的讀者群早已是遠遠的超越奇幻科幻愛好者的範圍,而受到更為廣泛的關注。
權力的遊戲已在HBO播齣。喬治·馬丁被時代雜誌評選為2011年影響世界的一百人。 精彩書評
"Of those who work in the grand epic-fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best.... [He] is a tense, surging, insomnia-inflicting plotter and a deft and inexhaustible sketcher of personalities.... This is as good a time as any to proclaim him the American Tolkien."
—Time Magazine
"The only fantast series I'd put on a level with J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings…. It's a fantasy series for hip, smart people, even those who don't read fantasy…. If you're new to the series, you must begin with Book 1, A Game of Thrones. Once you're hooked…. you'll be like the rest of us fans, gnawing your knuckles until book 5.”
—Marta Salij, Detroit Free Press
“THE MOST impressive modern fantasy, both in terms of conception and execution, is George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.… A masterpiece that will be mentioned with the great works of fantasy.”
—Contra Costa Times
"Long-awaited doesn’t begin to describe this fourth installment in bestseller Martin's staggeringly epic Song of Ice and Fire."
—Publishers Weekly 精彩書摘
Cersei
She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.
The courtiers were brightly colored mice below. Great lords and proud ladies knelt before her. Bold young knights laid their swords at her feet and pleaded for her favors, and the queen smiled down at them. Until the dwarf appeared as if from nowhere, pointing at her and howling with laughter. The lords and ladies began to chuckle too, hiding their smiles behind their hands. Only then did the queen realize she was naked.
Horrified, she tried to cover herself with her hands. The barbs and blades of the Iron Throne bit into her flesh as she crouched to hide her shame. Blood ran red down her legs, as steel teeth gnawed at her buttocks. When she tried to stand, her foot slipped through a gap in the twisted metal. The more she struggled the more the throne engulfed her, tearing chunks of flesh from her breasts and belly, slicing at her arms and legs until they were slick and red, glistening.
And all the while her brother capered below, laughing. His merriment still echoed in her ears when she felt a light touch on her shoulder, and woke suddenly. For half a heartbeat the hand seemed part of the nightmare, and Cersei cried out, but it was only Senelle. The maid’s face was white and frightened.
We are not alone, the queen realized. Shadows loomed around her bed, tall shapes with chainmail glimmering beneath their cloaks. Armed men had no business here.
Where are my guards? Her bedchamber was dark, but for the lantern one of the intruders held on high. I must show no fear. Cersei pushed back sleep-tousled hair, and said, “What do you want of me?” A man stepped into the lantern light, and she saw his cloak was white. “Jaime?” I dreamt of one brother, but the other has come to wake me.
“Your Grace.” The voice was not her brother’s. “The Lord Commander said come get you.” His hair curled, as Jaime’s did, but her brother’s hair was beaten gold, like hers, where this man’s was black and oily. She stared at him, confused, as he muttered about a privy and a crossbow, and said her father’s name. I am dreaming still, Cersei thought. I have not woken, nor has my nightmare ended. Tyrion will creep out from under the bed soon and begin to laugh at me.
But that was folly. Her dwarf brother was down in the black cells, condemned to die this very day. She looked down at her hands, turning them over to make certain all her fingers were still there. When she ran a hand down her arm the skin was covered with gooseprickles, but unbroken. There were no cuts on her legs, no gashes on the soles of her feet. A dream, that’s all it was, a dream. I drank too much last night, these fears are only humors born of wine. I will be the one laughing, come dusk. My children will be safe, Tommen’s throne will be secure, and my twisted little valonqar will be short a head and rotting.
Jocelyn Swyft was at her elbow, pressing a cup on her. Cersei took a sip: water, mixed with lemon squeezings, so tart she spit it out. She could hear the night wind rattling the shutters, and she saw with a strange sharp clarity. Jocelyn was trembling like a leaf, as frightened as Senelle. Ser Osmund Kettleblack loomed over her. Behind him stood Ser Boros Blount, with a lantern. At the door were Lannister guardsmen with gilded lions shining on the crests of their helmets. They looked afraid as well. Can it be? the queen wondered. Can it be true?
She rose, and let Senelle slip a bedrobe over her shoulders to hide her nakedness. Cersei belted it herself, her fingers stiff and clumsy. “My lord father keeps guards about him, night and day,” she said. Her tongue felt thick. She took another swallow of lemon water and sloshed it round her mouth to freshen her breath. A moth had gotten into the lantern Ser Boros was holding; she could hear it buzzing and see the shadow of its wings as it beat against the glass.
“The guards were at their posts, Your Grace,” said Osmund Kettleblack. “We found a hidden door behind the hearth. A secret passage. The Lord Commander’s gone down to see where it goes.”
“Jaime?” Terror seized her, sudden as a storm. “Jaime should be with the king . . .”
“The lad’s not been harmed. Ser Jaime sent a dozen men to look in on him. His Grace is sleeping peaceful.” Let him have a sweeter dream than mine, and a kinder waking. “Who is with the king?”
“Ser Loras has that honor, if it please you.”
It did not please her. The Tyrells were only stewards that the dragon-kings had upjumped far above their station. Their vanity was exceeded only by their ambition.
Ser Loras might be as pretty as a maiden’s dream, but underneath
his white cloak he was Tyrell to the bone. For all she knew, this night’s foul fruit had been planted and nurtured in Highgarden.
But that was a suspicion she dare not speak aloud.
“Allow me a moment to dress. Ser Osmund, you shall accompany me to the Tower of the Hand. Ser Boros, roust the gaolers and make certain the dwarf is still in his cell.” She would not say his name. He would never have found the courage to lift a hand against Father, she told herself, but she had to be certain.
“As Your Grace commands.” Blount surrendered the lantern to Ser Osmund. Cersei was not displeased to see the back of him. Father should never have restored him to the white. The man had proved himself a craven. By the time they left Maegor’s Holdfast, the sky had turned a deep cobalt blue, though the stars still shone. All but one, Cersei thought. The bright star of the west has fallen, and the nights will be darker now. She paused upon the drawbridge that spanned the dry moat, gazing down at the spikes below. They would not dare lie to me about such a thing. “Who found him?”
“One of his guards,” said Ser Osmund. “Lum. He felt a call of nature, and found his lordship in the privy.”
No, that cannot be. That is not the way a lion dies. The queen felt strangely calm. She remembered the first time she had lost a tooth, when she was just a little girl. It hadn’t hurt, but the hole in her mouth felt so odd she could not stop touching it with her tongue. Now there is a hole in the world where Father stood, and holes want filling.
If Tywin Lannister was truly dead, no one was safe . . . least of all her son upon his throne. When the lion falls the lesser beasts move in: the jackals and the vultures and the feral dogs. They would try to push her aside, as they always had. She would need to move quickly, as she had when Robert died. This might be the work of Stannis Baratheon, through some catspaw. It could well be the prelude to another attack upon the city. She hoped it was. Let him come. I will smash him, just as Father did, and this time he will die. Stannis did not frighten her, no more than Mace Tyrell did. No one frightened her. She was a daughter of the Rock, a lion. There will be no more talk of forcing me to wed again. Casterly Rock was hers now, and all the power of House Lannister. No one would ever disregard her again. Even when Tommen had no further need of a regent, the Lady of Casterly Rock would remain a power in the land.
The rising sun had painted the tower tops a vivid red, but beneath the walls the night still huddled. The outer castle was so hushed that she could have believed all its people dead. They should be. It is not fitting for Tywin Lannister to die alone. Such a man deserves a retinue to attend his needs in hell.
Four spearmen in red cloaks and lion-crested helms were posted at the door of the Tower of the Hand. “No one is to enter or leave without my permission,” she told them. The command came easily to her. My father had steel in his voice as well.
Within the tower, the smoke from the torches irritated her eyes, but Cersei did not weep, no more than her father would have. I am the only true son he ever had. Her heels scraped against the stone as she climbed, and she could still hear the moth fluttering wildly inside Ser Osmund’s lantern. Die, the queen thought at it, in irritation, fly into the flame and be done with it.
Two more red-cloaked guardsmen stood atop the steps. Red Lester muttered a condolence as she passed. The queen’s breath was coming fast and short, and she could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. The steps, she told herself, this cursed tower has too many steps. She had half a mind to tear it down.
The hall was full of fools speaking in whispers, as if Lord Tywin were asleep and they were afraid to wake him. Guards and servants alike shrank back before her, mouths flapping. She saw their pink gums and waggling tongues, but their words made no more sense than the buzzing of the moth. What are they doing here? How did they know? By rights they should have called her first. She was the Queen Regent, had they forgotten that?
Before the Hand’s bedchamber stood Ser Meryn Trant in his white armor and cloak. The visor of his helm was open, and the bags beneath his eyes made him look still half-asleep. “Clear these people away,” Cersei told him.
“Is my father in the privy?”
“They carried him back to his bed, m’lady.” Ser Meryn pushed the door open for her to enter.
Morning light slashed through the shutters to paint golden bars upon the rushes strewn across the floor of the bedchamber. Her uncle Kevan was on his knees beside the bed, trying to pray, but he could scarcely get the words out. Guardsmen clustered near the hearth. The secret door that Ser Osmund had spoken of gaped open behind the ashes, no...
《冰與火之歌》係列前三部作品簡介 本篇簡介將聚焦於喬治·R·R·馬丁的史詩巨著《冰與火之歌》係列中,不包含第四部《群鴉的盛宴》的故事情節,而是詳細迴顧和介紹係列前三部——《權力的遊戲》、《列王的紛爭》和《冰雨之鬼》的核心脈絡與人物群像。 --- 第一部:《權力的遊戲》(A Game of Thrones) 引爆風暴的序麯:維斯特洛大陸的權力之舞 故事的帷幕在維斯特洛大陸的南方,七大王國的心髒——君臨城拉開。史塔剋傢族的族長艾德·史塔剋,一位榮譽感極強的北方領主,被他的老友——維斯特洛的國王勞勃·拜拉席恩召至南方,擔任“國王之手”。這個顯赫的職位,實則是權力鬥爭的漩渦中心。 艾德抵達君臨後,迅速發現宮廷內部充斥著腐敗、陰謀和不為人知的秘密。他開始調查前任國王之手的死因,這一探尋將他引嚮瞭王後瑟曦·蘭尼斯特傢族的禁忌——她與她的孿生兄弟詹姆·蘭尼斯特之間隱秘的亂倫關係,以及他們所生育的繼承人喬佛裏王子血脈的真實性。 與此同時,在遙遠的北方,一堵名為“長城”的巨大冰牆,成為抵禦野人與更可怕的“異鬼”的最後防綫。艾德的私生子瓊恩·雪諾加入瞭守夜人軍團,親身體驗著冰冷前綫的孤獨與恐懼,以及其中隱藏的古老預言。 而在狹海之濱,被推翻的王朝——坦格利安傢族的殘存血脈,流亡的丹妮莉絲·坦格利安,在厄索斯大陸上掙紮求生。她從一個柔弱的被販賣的公主,在經曆瞭背叛、痛苦與磨難後,逐漸展現齣鐵血女王的潛質。她嫁給多斯拉剋部落的卡奧卓戈,並在烈火中重生,孵化齣三條傳說中的巨龍,為日後重返維斯特洛奠定瞭基礎。 當艾德·史塔剋最終揭露瞭國王繼承權的真相,試圖挽救王國的穩定時,他觸動瞭蘭尼斯特傢族的逆鱗。勞勃國王的突然死亡成為導火索,艾德的榮譽最終將他引嚮斷頭颱。他的被處決,徹底撕裂瞭維斯特洛的和平,點燃瞭“五王之戰”的火種。史塔剋傢族的力量在北方被鎮壓,戰火蔓延至七大王國的每一個角落。 --- 第二部:《列王的紛爭》(A Clash of Kings) 群雄逐鹿:七國陷入全麵戰爭 艾德·史塔剋之死引發瞭全麵的內戰。五位自稱為王的人(史塔剋、拜拉席恩兄弟、鐵群島和龍石島的坦格利安支持者)為瞭爭奪鐵王座而互相攻伐。 北境與河灣的掙紮: 艾德的長子羅柏·史塔剋,被北境和河灣諸侯擁立為“北境之王”。他憑藉齣色的軍事纔能,在戰場上屢建奇功,一度將蘭尼斯特的軍隊打得潰不成軍。然而,政治上的不成熟和私人的情感糾葛(與簡妮·維斯特林的婚姻,背棄瞭與佛雷傢族的婚約),開始為他的崛起埋下隱患。 君臨的權力洗牌: 在君臨,少年國王喬佛裏在瑟曦和提利昂·蘭尼斯特的輔佐下維持統治。提利昂以其超凡的智慧和對人性的洞察力,暫時代替受傷的詹姆擔任國王之手,在暗流湧動的宮廷中巧妙周鏇,抵抗著來自四方的軍事威脅和內部的傾軋。 狹海的崛起: 流亡的丹妮莉絲抵達瞭以奴隸製著稱的昆恩斯(Qarth)。在這裏,她見識瞭世界的殘酷,也加深瞭對她三條龍的掌控。她最終選擇放棄富裕的避難所,帶領著她日益壯大的“無垢者”軍隊,踏上瞭解放奴隸的徵途,展現瞭其作為徵服者的鐵腕和魅力。 長城外的危機: 瓊恩·雪諾跟隨本宗長老深入長城之外執行偵查任務,親眼目睹瞭異鬼的迴歸以及野人的遷徙。他經曆瞭臥底的驚險生活,並在一次撤退中展現瞭其勇氣與領導力,使他逐漸贏得瞭守夜人的尊重。 風暴的匯聚: 戰爭愈演愈烈,各方勢力都在積蓄力量。鐵王座的控製權看似穩固,實則搖搖欲墜。各路諸侯的盟約和背叛交織在一起,預示著下一階段更血腥的衝突不可避免。 --- 第三部:《冰雨之鬼》(A Storm of Swords) 高潮迭起:背叛、死亡與審判 《冰雨之鬼》是係列前期最富戲劇性和轉摺性的一部,其核心是權力格局的徹底顛覆與人物命運的劇烈變動。 血色婚禮的陰影: 故事初期,羅柏·史塔剋繼續在戰場上取得勝利,但他的政治錯誤(背棄婚約)最終導緻瞭災難性的後果。在一次看似和解的宴會上,史塔剋傢族遭受瞭最殘酷的背叛——“血色婚禮”。羅柏、他的母親凱特琳,以及大部分追隨他的北境領主,被佛雷傢族和波頓傢族聯閤蘭尼斯特的幕後操縱下屠殺殆盡。這標誌著“五王之戰”中抵抗力量的瓦解,也為波頓傢族的崛起鋪平瞭道路。 君臨的危機與提利昂的審判: 在君臨,權力遊戲進入白熱化。喬佛裏國王的殘暴使他樹敵無數。提利昂·蘭尼斯特在為王國做齣巨大貢獻後,卻被陷害謀害國王的罪名,被迫接受屈辱的審判。在審判過程中,他看清瞭太多人的真麵目,最終在兄長詹姆的幫助下逃離君臨,並在逃亡前,為自己的命運復仇——他親手殺死瞭父親泰溫·蘭尼斯特,徹底與傢族決裂。 長城外的變局: 在長城,瓊恩·雪諾捲入瞭守夜人與野人的戰爭。他與野人領袖曼斯·雷德周鏇,並在深愛著野人女子耶哥蕊妮(Ygritte)的同時,也履行著對守夜人的效忠。在關鍵時刻,他幫助守夜人守住瞭黑城堡,使異鬼的入侵暫時受挫。然而,戰爭的殘酷和情感的拉扯,使他經曆瞭巨大的精神考驗。 丹妮莉絲的解放之路: 丹妮莉絲的軍隊在厄索斯大陸上勢如破竹。她解放瞭奴隸之城淵凱、彌林和雲堡。她不再僅僅是一個復仇者,而是開始學習如何治理一個龐大的、由奴隸和自由人構成的社會。她用龍的力量威懾敵人,用智慧安撫民眾,她的“龍之母”的聲望和力量達到瞭前所未有的高度,開始真正具備顛覆維斯特洛現有秩序的實力。 新格局的形成: 隨著羅柏和凱特琳的死亡,史塔剋傢族的旗幟暫時摺損。鐵王座雖然保住瞭,但蘭尼斯特傢族的力量也因泰溫之死和提利昂的逃亡而嚴重削弱。瑟曦的野心和對權力固守的渴望日益膨脹。遠在東方的丹妮莉絲,則帶著她的龍和無垢者,準備著跨越大海迴歸故土。整個七大王國處於一種暫時的、極度不穩定的平衡之中,為接下來的衝突積蓄瞭所有的能量。