This is discussed pretty much weekly in this subreddit and really ought to be in the sidebar. For anyone from the future who is reading this thread, all the deleted comments are below were links to pirated versions of the books.
Yes, you have to get the books containing all these short stories (these books are called Anthologies). For the Hedge Knight, you can get it in an anthology called Legends I - this has a bunch of stories from a bunch of authors you've never heard of. Kindle version is $8, and hardcover is $16. OR you can get the Dreamsongs Volume 2 anthology for $11 kindle or $15 paperback. This is full of George R R Martin short stories that you'll probably really like.
They're kind of hard to come across because well, they're always included in collections. The Mystery Knight is in a collection called Warriors. I've read all the Novellas since the Hedge Knight was originally published in the first Legends collection. Luckily there is a paperback available for Legends 1 but I think it's out of print. Also to be more confusing, the paperback it's contained in is called Legends 2 because it's the second part of the hardcover or something? But Legends II collection is where you get the Sworn Sword. Well here's a handy list though some might not be in stock (PB = Paperback/HC = Hardcover):
The standalone versions are expensive because they're rare / collector items.
The stories pretty affordable when you get them in the anthologies they originally were published in. The Hedge Knight is in Legends and also Dreamsongs Volume II. The Sworn Sword is in Legends II. The Mystery Knight is in Warriors.
Based on her liking the Auel books, I'd bet she'd dig the trilogy: Namaah's Kiss, Namaah's Curse, Namaah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey. They're all pretty thick and interesing in world-building, female-centered fantasy type.
Has she read the Dunk & Egg stories (a.k.a. The Hedge Knight series) and other prequel stories to ASOIAF? That would be a nice treat for a big fan of the series, if she doesn't have them all yet. It's tricky, because the stories are currently broken up and scattered across a few books, haven't been compiled into one (yet). And, bonus, she'd get a bunch of other stories by other great sci-fi/fantasy writers in those, that may make her discover and fall in love with another series.
Beware: with the "Legends" ones, if you get PBs instead of the HC edition, the first "Legends I" was broken into three books for PB release, Legends 1, Legends 2, etc., which can get confusing considering they later put out a "Legends II". So, if you get the mass market PBs on those, you could wind up with a shorter version that doesn't include the right stories ASOIAF fan is looking for.
The UK paperback is already out, but it was split into two volumes. The US paperback was due out in August, but it was delayed until early next year. The only US release so far is the hardcover. I feel like I've seen pics of a one volume paperback ADWD though...
tl;dr - The $35 hardcover that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have for $21 or the eBook version that both have for $15.
> I'm supposed to wait some 3-4 years after ADWD for the next book? Rough, since I started the series this June.
Yes :( You can try to find the Tales of Dunk & Egg in the anthologies each one comes in (Legends, Legends II, and Warriors). A fourth Dunk & Egg novella is coming out soon, and all four will be released in one volume afterwards.
You can get short story collections that contain them through Amazon (Here, here, and here), but that'll add up price wise. I think GRRM is putting together an anthology of the Dunk and Egg novels, so you may want to hold off until then.
Library Links
>Dunk & Egg 1 (Hedge Knight)
>Legends Anthology: http://www.worldcat.org/title/legends-short-novels-by-the-masters-of-modern-fantasy/oclc/39013842
>Hedge Knight Only: http://www.worldcat.org/title/hedge-knight/oclc/56053466&referer=brief_results
>
>
> Dunk & Egg 2 (Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword)
> Legends Anthology II: http://www.worldcat.org/title/legends-ii-dragon-sword-and-king/oclc/630937186
> Sworn Sword Only: http://www.worldcat.org/title/hedge-knight-ii-sworn-sword/oclc/269578007
> Dunk & Egg 3 (Mystery Knight)
> Warriors Anthology: http://www.worldcat.org/title/warriors/oclc/428026868
Amazon (from /r/asoiaf wiki)
>1.
> http://www.amazon.com/Legends-Stories-Masters-Modern-Fantasy/dp/0765300354
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Dreamsongs-Volume-George-R-R-Martin/dp/0553385690
>
>2.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Legends-II-Masters-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B000FC0Y0Y/
> 3.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-George-R-R-Martin/dp/0765320487/
>
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/0765360268/
It's the graphic novel of The Hedge Knight that sells for stupid prices.
The actual novella is available in this book or this one. (Kindle edition).
The Sworn Sword is in Legends II. Alternatively, it's in this book which only contains part of the original Legends II anthology.
The Mystery Knight is in Warriors, or in paperback, this volume.
This is discussed pretty much weekly in this subreddit and really ought to be in the sidebar. For anyone from the future who is reading this thread, all the deleted comments are below were links to pirated versions of the books.
They're each in a different anthology.
The Hedge Knight
The Sworn Sword
Mystery Knight
Although, they seem to have gone up a considerable amount in price since I bought them.
Yes, you have to get the books containing all these short stories (these books are called Anthologies). For the Hedge Knight, you can get it in an anthology called Legends I - this has a bunch of stories from a bunch of authors you've never heard of. Kindle version is $8, and hardcover is $16. OR you can get the Dreamsongs Volume 2 anthology for $11 kindle or $15 paperback. This is full of George R R Martin short stories that you'll probably really like.
For Sworn Sword, your only choice, unfortunately, is Legends 2. It's $6 for a digital version, and $7 for a paperback at Barnes and Noble.
The third story is only in Warriors which is unfortunately another nobody-anthology. $10 for kindle, $13 for paperback.
They're kind of hard to come across because well, they're always included in collections. The Mystery Knight is in a collection called Warriors. I've read all the Novellas since the Hedge Knight was originally published in the first Legends collection. Luckily there is a paperback available for Legends 1 but I think it's out of print. Also to be more confusing, the paperback it's contained in is called Legends 2 because it's the second part of the hardcover or something? But Legends II collection is where you get the Sworn Sword. Well here's a handy list though some might not be in stock (PB = Paperback/HC = Hardcover):
http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-George-R-R-Martin/dp/0765320487/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333422507&sr=8-1
The standalone versions are expensive because they're rare / collector items.
The stories pretty affordable when you get them in the anthologies they originally were published in. The Hedge Knight is in Legends and also Dreamsongs Volume II. The Sworn Sword is in Legends II. The Mystery Knight is in Warriors.
Based on her liking the Auel books, I'd bet she'd dig the trilogy: Namaah's Kiss, Namaah's Curse, Namaah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey. They're all pretty thick and interesing in world-building, female-centered fantasy type.
Has she read the Dunk & Egg stories (a.k.a. The Hedge Knight series) and other prequel stories to ASOIAF? That would be a nice treat for a big fan of the series, if she doesn't have them all yet. It's tricky, because the stories are currently broken up and scattered across a few books, haven't been compiled into one (yet). And, bonus, she'd get a bunch of other stories by other great sci-fi/fantasy writers in those, that may make her discover and fall in love with another series.
Legends I
Legends II
Warriors
...and not directly the 3 main Dunk and Egg stories, but other ASOIAF prequels in these:
Dangerous Women
Rogues
Beware: with the "Legends" ones, if you get PBs instead of the HC edition, the first "Legends I" was broken into three books for PB release, Legends 1, Legends 2, etc., which can get confusing considering they later put out a "Legends II". So, if you get the mass market PBs on those, you could wind up with a shorter version that doesn't include the right stories ASOIAF fan is looking for.
http://amzn.com/0765320487 - This one has a Kindle version
The UK paperback is already out, but it was split into two volumes. The US paperback was due out in August, but it was delayed until early next year. The only US release so far is the hardcover. I feel like I've seen pics of a one volume paperback ADWD though...
tl;dr - The $35 hardcover that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have for $21 or the eBook version that both have for $15.
> I'm supposed to wait some 3-4 years after ADWD for the next book? Rough, since I started the series this June.
Yes :( You can try to find the Tales of Dunk & Egg in the anthologies each one comes in (Legends, Legends II, and Warriors). A fourth Dunk & Egg novella is coming out soon, and all four will be released in one volume afterwards.
The Mystery Knight.
Edit: in this anthology.
Seems pretty off. He already has chapters written for the sixth book. He is working on another anthology like the successful Warriors.
Here's a blog post by GRRM talking about what he's up to...
You can get short story collections that contain them through Amazon (Here, here, and here), but that'll add up price wise. I think GRRM is putting together an anthology of the Dunk and Egg novels, so you may want to hold off until then.
You can find them in the FAQ.
Dunk & Egg:
Histories of Westeros: