The Hedge Knight

Duncan, called Dunk, is a young squire whose master has died. He takes up the dead man's sword and shield and sets out to pass himself off as a knight at a tournament in the Seven Kingdoms. The obstacle is that he needs a sponsor first, and the search for one leads him through a string of allies, enemies and quiet schemes.

Among the people he meets is Egg, who becomes his squire. Egg may have private reasons of his own for staying close to Dunk, and the book keeps that question open.

This is a fantasy prequel set one hundred years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. The two fortune seekers come looking for glory and find a world of distrust and political maneuvering. Readers who know the series will recognise the setting, though the story is new.

Dunk clings to chivalry and his dream of honor, even as those old-fashioned virtues mark him as a target and may bring about his ruin. The tone mixes adventure with a cynical view of how knighthood works in practice.