Andy's Book Club

When the gods take with one hand, they give with the other. Over the years, the Good Queen Alysanne would be blessed with many more children. But at the same time, tragedies would strike as she would lose a few children as well, due to disease and other complications. The realm, although otherwise prosperous under the good rule of Jaehaerys, would be struck with an unusually cold winter and a pandemic called the Shivers. The wheel of fortune turns, and there's no way for even House Targaryen, as powerful as they are, to escape the whims of fortune.

The reign of Jaehaerys and Alysanne is considered to be a golden age for Westeros. Under the watchful eyes of the King and Queen, the populations of all major cities in Westeros grew, and food prices fell. However, not all was going perfectly. The Princess Aerea, daughter of Rhaena and niece to Jaehaerys, was still missing. She had ran away from home on the back of Balerion. Further, Elissa Farman had stolen three dragon eggs from Dreamfyre and was still at large. All this was going on while delegations arrived from Tyrosh and Pentos. The two city states had been at war and requested that Jaehaerys host them in King's Landing to have a neutral ground where they can discuss peace terms. Jaehaerys could not pass up this opportunity to increase his influence in Essos, but rather inconveniently, he had announced his royal procession to the North already and did not want to cancel it last minute for fear of angering Lord Alaric Stark. Thus, a compromise was reached, it would be Queen Alysanne who would embark on this procession alone.

The wheel of fortune turns. Sometimes when the gods give with one hand they take with the other. The years leading up to 54 AC would bring with it many joyous events such as the birth of King Jaehaery's new half brother. However, other tragedies would befall House Targaryen with the deaths of Queen Dowager Alyssa, the High Septon, and the tragedy involving Rhaena's husband Androw Farman who finally had enough of abuse and ridicule from Rhaena and decided to take his revenge in a violent way.

Jaehaerys was apprehensive about announcing his marriage to the realm. He had seen the kind of pushback his older siblings, Rhaena and Aegon the Uncrowned, had received when they announced their marriage. Jaehaerys wanted to make absolutely sure that there would be no Faith rebellion. To this end, he assembled a team of seven preachers, whose job it would be to travel all over Westeros and argue for the Doctrine of Exceptionalism. The Doctrine of Exceptionalism states that Targaryens ought to be treated differently compared to other people, since Targaryens were descendants of Old Valyria, whose people practiced incest on a regular basis.

The year of 49 AC started off with a bang, with Rhaena announcing her marriage to Androw Farman, the second son of Lord Marq Farman, the ruler of Fair Isle. This announcement was not without its controversy, as Rhaena had not informed nor invited her mother Queen Dowager Alyssa to the wedding ceremony. Lord Rogar Baratheon, the Hand of the King, would announce another big marriage between himself and Queen Dowager Alyssa, finally uniting the two most powerful people in Westeros (as well as two of the most powerful houses in Westeros, with Queen Dowager Alyssa being from House Velaryon). The issue now became who Jaehaerys and his sister, the princess Alysanne, would marry. And when it came to the topic of marriage, Jaehaerys and Alysanne had both already made up their minds as to who they wanted to marry.

After the terror of Maegor the Cruel, Jaehaerys, the 3rd son of King Aenys and Queen Alyssa, and grandson of Aegon the Conqueror, ascended the Iron Throne at the tender age of 14. The realm held its breath in nervous anticipation, having been traumatized by the Maegor in recent years. Jaehaerys would meet many challenges immediately, such as how to deal with the Faith of the Seven and a small rebellion led by a loud, fat, and charismatic septon named Septon Moon. Can Jaehaerys undo the damage that had been done and lead Westeros into a golden age?

Upon seizing the Iron Throne from his late brother King Aenys, Maegor usurped his nephew Aegon who was next in line for the throne. Under Maegor, the Crown and the Faith of the Seven were in a full scale conflict. Maegor's reign lasted 6 years and 66 days. The list of atrocities committed by Maegor grew large and the realm would forever ensure that someone like Maegor shall never rule again.

The troubles for King Aenys started immediately as he ascended the Iron Throne. Throughout Westeros, opportunistic rebels launched revolts, and King Aenys was slow to react. In the end it was only with the help of his lords and Queen Dowager Visenya, that the rebels were put down one by one. However, even though he had survived the revolts, the growing rifts from within the Targaryen family were starting to show. A rift between the Crown and the Faith of the Seven was also spiraling out of control. 

King Aegon was now tired of wars, having paid a price too high in the First Dornish War, with the death of his beloved wife Rhaenys. Now was a time for peace and reconciliation. To this end, Aegon would be known just as much for his reforms and he was for his wars. Under Aegon's reign, he standardized many rules regarding governance and taxation, led the rebuilding of King's Landing, and established many of the positions of the Small Council that we would recognize today. However, even Aegon realized that he could not live forever. The question of succession remained. 

King Aegon had now succeeded in uniting 6 out of the 7 Kingdoms of Westeros. It was only Dorne that remained out of his grasp, and he was determined to bring Dorne into the fold. However, Aegon's endless pursuit of glory and conquest would cost him dearly. 

Aegon's forces lands at the mouth of the Blackwater Bay as he erects a crude castle out of wood and dirt called the Aegonfort. The Kings of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros discuss on how to deal with this new enemy. However, they had no answer for Aegon's dragons. One by one, they will all succumb to Aegon's might, save for Dorne, who, through guerrilla warfare tactics, would survive the onslaught of the Targaryen armies and keep their independence. Still, Aegon would mostly succeed in his quest to unite the continent of Westeros and henceforth be known as Aegon the Conqueror.  

The first chapter is called Aegon’s Conquest. And it details the start of the Targaryen Dynasty in Westeros which began with Aegon Targaryen who would eventually unite the realm. Aegon is so crucial to the entire Game of Thrones world, that, the dating system used in Westeros was divided into BC and AC which starts for “before conquest” and “after conquest”.