“The Hedge Knight” is a 1998 novella written by George R.R. Martin. It serves as a prequel to the “A Song of Ice and Fire” novel series and is the first of the novella spinoff series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

The novella follows a tall man named Dunk, a hedge knight looking for a chance at glory after the death of the knight who he had previously squired, Ser Arlan of Pennytree.

Dunk makes his way to a nearby tournament to compete. He allows a young, mysterious and highly educated boy named Egg to become his squire while he tries to join the tournament to win money, fame and glory.

The novel is split into two halves. The first half follows Dunk’s attempt to enter and compete in the tournament at Ashford Meadow while developing a dynamic with his companion, Egg. The reader is given access to his thoughts about whether he is truly worthy of being a knight or if he is just a fraud.

The second half of the story begins when Dunk decides to attack a prince of the reigning house of the land, the Targaryens. This is after the prince, Aerion, strikes an innocent woman. Dunk is forced to fight six people in a trial by combat to determine his innocence.

Unlike the rest of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, this prequel starts out with a much lighter tone.

The main series of books are known for their violence, swearing and continent-spanning stakes. The whole novella takes place over about a week’s time, is mostly set in one meadow, and is only from the third person’s limited perspective of one character, Dunk.

The tone of The Hedge Knight is far lighter than I was accustomed to and is mostly about lowborn characters, as opposed to the royalty of the main series. The second half of the novel shifts gears into something that “A Song of Ice and Fire” fans will be more accustomed to.

If the political machinations and amoral characters are why you enjoy the main series, you’ll have to wait until the second half of the book to get what you want. Even then, it is toned down in comparison to the rest of the series.

The dynamic between Dunk and Egg is what carries the story forward. Despite being the older of the two, Dunk is far less knowledgeable than Egg. Dunk, however, has the leg up on him when it comes to world experience.

One of Martin’s biggest strengths as a writer, and one of the main reasons why he adapts so well into television, is his ear for dialogue.

In “The Hedge Knight,” the conversations between Dunk and Egg as well as Dunk and Baelor, the Hand of the King, are a highlight of the books.

Dunk and Egg have a fun, unconventional, and occasionally heartwarming dynamic. The calm, understanding, and highborn personality of Baelor clashes well with Dunks’ nervous and low-born status, which results in great interactions, especially in the back half of the story.

At a little over 100 pages, it doesn’t take long to read and provides a bite-size piece of Martin’s expansive world that is no less excellent than the rest of his series.

The novella appears alongside the next two entries in this series in the novella collection titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”