In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely...

The uneasy peace that exists following the death of Robb Stark is threatened by new plots, intrigues, and alliances that once again will plunge the Seven Kingdoms back into all-out war for control of the Iron Throne. "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,...

"Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders--Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon--who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead . . . victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms...

A tale of court intrigues in the land of Seven Kingdoms, a country "blessed by golden summers that go on for years, and cursed by cruel winters that can last a generation." Treachery, murder, incest. "Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister...

Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon are dead, both victims of royal treachery. Chaos reigns in the wake of their deaths as six factions battle for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms.

Four contend for power over the Iron Throne and the Land of the Seven Kingdoms; alliances shift, and betrayal is always an option. House Lannister's head, Joffrey, rules uneasily. Joffrey's enemy, Lord Stannis, is disgraced and enthralled. Robb of House Stark still rules the North, implacable in his enmity towards his Lannister foes, even as they hold his sister hostage. And the exiled queen Daenerys, mistress of the world's last three dragons, makes...