History Literature / TheWorldOfIceAndFire

* DatedHistory: Yandel started the book in 292 AC and didn't finish until 300, and, as the afterword acknowledges, a ''lot'' about Westeros has changed in those few years. For example, the dedication page has Tommen's name, but it has clearly been written over "Robert" and then "Joffrey". The chapter about Robert's reign is also written in the present tense despite being outdated information by the time the book is published.

* AllThereInTheManual: This is the manual! It's also [[InvertedTrope inverted]], as many of the events surrounding Robert's Rebellion are glossed over with the excuse that they are so familiar to current readers (that is, people living in Westeros "today") that describing them is unnecessary. Some of these events (particularly concerning Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark) are presumably being held back for subsequent novels, although a simple in-universe explanation is that Yandel is writing for the ''winner'' of that war and probably wants to avoid writing anything he wouldn't like.
** This holds true for the ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'' as well. In this book, the third Blackfyre rebellion is left very vague, clearly so that it can be explored in a Dunk & Egg novella when Martin has the time.

* CainAndAbel: Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon II, though both cause so much devastation fighting over the Iron Throne that it's hard to tell who we're supposed to root for (although, granted, [[BlackAndGreyMorality that's probably the point]]). Their branches of the family almost wiped the other out before Aegon had Rhaenyra fed to his dragon. However he died shortly after.

* ComboPlatterPowers[=/=]NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Yandel argues against the children of the forest sinking the Arm of Dorne, pointing out that such a feat doesn't mesh with the powers they're usually described as having. He uses a similar argument to discredit the children helping to build the Wall.

** The faith of The Seven is very similar to Catholicism.

** Yandel also portrays the Andals as being essentially the only people who were able to resist Valyrian domination for long, although his own history demonstrates that the Rhoynar resisted just as long.
** Qarth's boasts about its ancient glory and power are revealed to be a case of ''empty'' CulturalPosturing, as they were insignificant on the world stage until less than 400 year ago.

* DatedHistory: Yandel started the book in 292 AC and didn't finish until 300, and as the afterword acknowledges, a ''lot'' about Westeros has changed in those few years. For example, the dedication page has Tommen's name, but it has clearly been written over "Robert" and then "Joffrey". The chapter about Robert's reign is also written in the present tense despite being outdated information by the time the book is published.

** See LoopholeAbuse, below. After a man killed his wife by striking her a hundred times, Rhaenys introduced the "rule of six" in response: while a wife was indeed subordinate to her husband, meaning he would be within rights to beat her, he would only be allowed six strikes total (one for each of the Seven, minus the Stranger, who is death).

* DoingInTheWizard: Yandel generally starts his account of each of the Seven Kingdoms (as well as several of the Free Cities and other locations) by discussing their local legends of how they were established... and then poking holes in those legends, demonstrating how they could not possibly have occurred as told. He then usually provides a more plausible account. Note that these more plausible stories (that the Others were merely a particularly aggressive tribe of wildlings, for example) are not necessarily true.

** And in the main series there's shown to be a conspiracy in the Citadel against magic.
* DomesticAbuse: Allowed, but only if you hit your wife six times or fewer. See DeliberateValuesDissonance.
* DramaticIrony: Yandel isn't privy to the adventures of the main series' protagonists, so he tends to discuss things like the existence of the Others as something that was never true or stopped being true thousands of years ago.

** The Prince of Pentos, Three Princes of Lorath, and Archon of Tyrosh, are elected to the position for life terms. Though all are figureheads of their respective cities' magisters.

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: All the mentions about Sothoryos are a veritable catalog of all the various horrendous ways in which every single piece of flora and fauna on that continent will kill you. And the Shadowlands aren't that far behind.
* EvilUncle: Maegor the Cruel. He married his niece, had two of his nephews killed and disinherited the third.

** Certain religions in Old Valyria considered themselves the one true faith and found the religious tolerance of the Freehold to be intolerable, leading to the founding of several [[CultColony cult colonies]].

* GodEmperor: The title of the supreme rulers of Yi Ti. Their degree of actual secular authority varies depending of the time period, but they’re always revered by all as divine. Leng on the other hand, is ruled by God-''Empresses'' and the God-''Kings'' of the Ibbenese were overthrown around the time of the Doom of Valyria.

* HumanSubspecies: The Ibbenese, the Sothoryi, the people of Toad Isle, and the people of the Thousand Islands are apparently different enough from mainline humans that crossbreeds will be either sterile or too deformed to survive birth, although as these are the least-known lands it may fall under UnreliableNarrator. Valyrian dragonlords and their descendants claim to be be part dragon, and while they appear to be merely strange-looking humans there are many references to stillborn children having draconic features (just like Daenerys' son in the main series).
** There are also subspecies of Giants and Children in Essos, most of them known only from skeletons.

* LadyLand[=/=]WorldOfActionGirls: In the cities of Kayakayanaya, Bayasabhad, and Samyriana, ninety nine percent of all men are castrated. Only women serve as warriors in these places, learning to fight before they even learn to walk. On the other hand, it seems that the remaining men, the Great Fathers, are the ones that actually run these cities.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Since the book is meant to be a history, it mostly only contains information from before ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'', and naturally spoils ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'' and ''Literature/ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories'' to some degree. That's not to say that readers still catching up on the book series are ''safe''--Joffrey's death and Tommen becoming king are spoiled on the ''first page'' after the table of contents, while one of the final pages spoils Daenerys hatching her dragons.

** The Shrykes are described as such by the [=YiTish=]; Yandel mentions the possibility that they could be normal humans who dress themselves in lizard skins.

* {{Mordor}}: The Shadow Lands almost exactly match the trope description. Asshai is in a perpetual gloom, while Stygai, an ancient ruin deeper in the Shadow Lands, doesn't experience "daybreak" until noon due to its location at the bottom of a canyon. ''Everything'' in Asshai is built from the same mysterious, greasy black stone--presumably the same stone that the Seastone Chair and other out-of-place artifacts are made from--and it's purported to dim any nearby fires. Asshai is a Mecca for the practice of forbidden magic and other unspeakable taboos. Any animals that set foot in the city quickly fall ill and die, and for some reason [[spoiler:not a single child is to be seen within its walls]]. No crops grow in the Shadow Lands--the only plant ''at all'' seems to be ghost grass, which has a rather inauspicious reputation (for example, the Dothraki apocalypse myth involves ghost grass covering the entire earth). The Ash river is polluted and full of [[SicklyGreenGlow bioluminescent plankton]] and blind, mutated fish that only [[BlackMagic shadowbinders]] dare to eat. Those last few points would imply that the locals [[EatingOptional somehow manage without food or water]], but Yandel {{Hand Wave}}s this with the explanation that the population is simply critically dependent on imports ([[spoiler:however, Melisandre's chapter in ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'' argues that shadowbinders, at least, indeed ''don't'' need food and water. This would imply that Asshai simply keeps up appearances to avoid scaring off trade--the place is creepy enough, after all]]).
* {{Mutants}}: These are born fairly regularly in the city of Mantarys. This is blamed upon the Doom of Valyria.

* {{Necromancer}}:
** Found in the cities of Qohor, Nefer and Asshai.
** The Bloodstone Emperor of Yi Ti was said to be one, as well.
* TheNightThatNeverEnds: The Long Night, a generation-long winter that signaled the arrival of the Others. Yandel insinuates that it may not have been a literal complete lack of daylight that lasted decades, though. It is mentioned by many civilizations, so Yandel believes it did happen.

** When describing the regions of Westeros, Yandel is quick to point out that even though the realm is called the "Seven Kingdoms" after the kingdoms that existed at the time of Aegon's Conquest, the sum doesn't really add up because Dorne was a principality and the Targaryen petty kingdom in Blackwater Bay is never counted. After the Conquest, the math is even more off.

** The First Men were not the first race of humans to exist. They are called as such because they were the first race of men to set foot on Westeros and it's speculated that there are human settlers predating the First Men.
** Yandel points out there probably were not literally Ten Thousand ships that fled with Nymeria from the Valyrians.
** There are less than 300 islands in the Thousand Islands archipelago.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Similarly to the above, the Brindled Men of Sothoryos share a few similarities to the standard fantasy Orcs of the "Tolkien" variety. They eat human flesh and worship dark gods, are similarly short and squat, they come in huge hordes and live in a PlaceWorseThanDeath. They also have facial features reminiscent of pigs and long arms. Similarly to the Ibbenese, they are likely to be a separate species of the genus ''Homo''.

* {{Precursors}}: While the Valyrians act as precursors for most of present-day Essos, it is revealed that there is significant evidence--such as various structures made of oily black stone--for a civilization similarly advanced that existed in the distant past and that everyone has forgotten. In-universe theories about them range from AdvancedAncientHumans to [[FishPeople Deep Ones]]. There's strong evidence that there was more than one; the Five Forts and the base of the Hightower use Valyrian-style fused black stone but [[RecursivePrecursors predate the Freehold by a considerable margin and are about as far from Valyria as it is possible to be (in fact given the ambiguity as to the size of the planet they may actually be closer to ''each other'' going the other way than either is to Valyria)]], the mazes of Lorath are in a similar style to the Hightower but made of normal stone, and the ancient cities of Yeen and Asshai are made from a completely different oily black stone that has mysterious magical properties. There's also the greasy stone idol on the Isle of Toads.
* ProfessionalButtkisser: Maester Yandel. His account of King Robert Baratheon's reign is exceedingly flattering. He even goes so far as titling the chapter devoted to it as "The Glorious Reign".

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: How the Kingdom of Omber manages to survive living right next door to the Dothraki heartland. Yearly payments to the horselords of [[AlliterativeList grain, gems and girls]].

---> '''Maester Yandel''': The world has known ice in the Long Night, and it has known fire in the Doom. From the Frozen Shore to Asshai-by-the-Shadow, this world of ice and fire has revealed a rich and glorious history—although there is much yet to be discovered.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The Valyrians ultimately had to resort to this to overwhelm the Rhoynar under Prince Garin, who had managed to use their water magic to fend off an army led by three dragonriders. The Freehold responded by sending ''three hundred'' dragonriders; supposedly, the combined heat of all that dragonfire managed to boil away the waters of the Rhoyne--itself a river so wide that you can sail down the center at points and not see either bank--into steam.

* TortureTechnician: Tyanna of the Tower served as Maegor the Cruel's.

* UnreliableNarrator: A given since this is history; the book is written according to in-universe academic consensus, meaning it operates on many popular in-universe assumptions about history, magic, and so forth that various characters of the book series have discovered to be wrong. To make matter worse, if [[spoiler:Marwyn]] in ''Literature/AFeastForCrows'' is to believed, [[spoiler:it's very likely that the Citadel deliberately vets historical records in order to discredit magic]]. Yandel's accounts notably clash with events depicted in ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'', and the book is also obviously written in a way that would avoid offending the current regime--for example, the main records of Aerys II's reign and Tywin's tenure as Hand come from none other than Grand Maester Pycelle, who is shown in the main series to be a lying Lannister-loving toady, and in particular at least vice-president of Tywin's fan club, of the first order. This is visible in the account of the Sack of King's Landing where he speculates that Aerys killed Elia Martell and her children in madness, or that she killed them herself, when it's obvious from the main books that Tywin sent Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch to do the job. It's also unclear how much of Yandel's speculations on the genetics of various other human races--like the Ibbenese, the Sothoryi or the people of the Thousand Islands--is actually true or simply medieval racism.

*** The current azure dynasty holds no real imperial power and the whole Golden Empire is an empire InNameOnly, a shadow of what it was in past dynasties. Yandel points out that this kind of thing has happened before.

* TheUnreveal: The section on the Tragedy at Summerhall gives all the setup known from the books (an attempt to hatch dragons which ended in a fatal fire), but the really important part about what happened is [inkstain].

* {{Precursors}}: While the Valyrians act as precursors for most of present-day Essos, it is revealed that there is significant evidence--such as various structures made of oily black stone--for a civilization just as advanced (if not more so) that existed in the distant past and that everyone has forgotten. In-universe theories about them range from AdvancedAncientHumans to [[FishPeople Deep Ones]]. There's strong evidence that there was more than one; the Five Forts and the base of the Hightower use Valyrian-style fused black stone but [[RecursivePrecursors predate the Freehold by a considerable margin and are about as far from Valyria as it is possible to be (in fact given the ambiguity as to the size of the planet they may actually be closer to ''each other'' going the other way than either is to Valyria)]], the mazes of Lorath are in a similar style to the Hightower but made of normal stone, and the ancient cities of Yeen and Asshai are made from a completely different oily black stone that has mysterious magical properties.

* DisproportionateRetribution: While it's unknown what was discussed at the council Aegon the Conqueror put together after Argilac the Arrogant's insult, it certainly ''appears'' as if Aegon decided to conquer the entire continent immediately after Argilac spurned a marriage offer from Aegon by cutting off his messenger's hands.

* KillTheCreditor: When the Iron Bank of Braavos started to press King Aerys II Targaryen about paying debts racked up during his father's reign, the young King declared his intention to assemble a war fleet to bring the Iron Bank to hell. Fortunately for both sides, Aerys' [[HypercompetentSidekick Hand of the King]] Tywin Lannister [[MundaneSolution just paid the crown's debts out of his own pocket]].

** When describing the regions of Westeros, Yandel is quick to point out that even though the realm is called the "Seven Kingdoms" after the kingdoms that existed at the time of Aegon's Conquest, the sum doesn't really add up because Dorne was a principality and the Targaryen petty kingdom in Blackwater Bay is never counted. After the Conquest the math is even more off.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The different dynasties of god-emperors in Yi Ti are distinguished by colors, rather than names. The current one is Bu Gai, the seventeenth azure emperor.

* TitleDrop: A marriage pact between houses Stark and Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons is revealed to have been named "The Pact of Ice and Fire". It was never completed but it does supply the EpilepticTrees.

** Three Lords Tully were named [[Franchise/TheMuppets Kermit, Elmo, and Grover]].

** Baldric I Durrandon is also known as [[Series/TheBlackadder Baldric the Cunning]].

* UndergroundCity: The city of Nefer, just east of the Plains of the Jogos Nhai. Nine-tenths of the city is built underground.

** Creator/HPLovecraft references make up a large part of the book's sections on Essos, including the names of Leng (and a statement that the Old Ones are worshipped there), K'Dath (Kadath) and Sarnath; numerous mentions of an oily black stone, usually in connection with Deep Ones or other mysterious or fogotten cultures; references to the city of Qohor's worship of the Black Goat; speculation of the existence of [[Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth Deep Ones]]; and a sinister fringe religion known as the Church of Starry Wisdom.

** Speaking of the Seven Kingdoms, the Targaryen kings counted "Lord of the Seven Kingdoms" among their titles from the beginning, proclaiming dominion over Dorne when it didn't actually join the nation until Daeron the Good's reign. (Non top of that they technically controlled eight regions at the time.)

* HumanSubspecies: The Ibbenese, the Sothoryi, the people of Toad Isle, and the people of the Thousand Islands are apparently different enough from mainline humans that crossbreeds will be either sterile or too deformed to survive birth, although as these are the least-known lands it may fall under UnreliableNarrator. Valyrian dragonlords and their descendants claim to be be part dragon, and while they appear to be merely strange-looking humans there are many reference to stillborn children having draconic features (just like Daenerys' son in the main series).

** Westeros is rather sex-negative, but on the Summer Islands most people spend some number of years serving in love temples and having sex with any visitors. In the Summer Islands, skill at sex is regarded as a prestigious calling akin to music or art.

** All throughout the book, the role of women is usually that of prizes. Most are never named, and are usually only mentioned in some variant on the phrase "and he took the conquered lord's wife/daughter to wife". Yandel doesn't see much wrong with this, to the point where he makes a note of Orys Baratheon's decision not to rape the daughter of a lord he'd slain in combat who was brought to him naked and in chains, and instead talk her into surrendering the castle, as the height of chivalry. This makes it all the more surprising when he writes about Dorne, Aegon Targaryen's sisters, or any other time when he brings up a woman who held power and whose name history actually remembered with nothing more censorious with "that's just how they do things there and it works for them".