All Sorts of Weird Stuff: News

All Sorts of Weird Stuff offers news and information about George R.R. Martin, in particular about his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

"When I was young, I read all sorts of stuff. One week it would be Lovecraft, the next Vance. It was all imaginative literature, or as my dad called it 'Weird Stuff.' It was all 'Weird Stuff.'"

George R.R. Martin

New to the series? Read our spoiler-free review of A Game of Thrones.

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Sites of Interest

GRRM

Rogues Delivered

According to George R.R. Martin at “Not a Blog”, he and co-editor Gardner Dozois have finalized and delivered Rogues, a cross-genre anthology featuring quite the list of contributors. The anthology, tied together by the titular concept, will be published by Bantam Spectra.

Martin provides a list of contributors and their stories, which include Joe Abercrombie, Daniel Abraham, Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Connie Willis, Scott Lynch, Carrie Vaughn, and many, many more. A full listing can be found below the cut.

The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion

Some rather unclear news came out of a HarperCollins show case, in which it was revealed that George R.R. Martin has licensed to them the publication of a small gift book collecting some of Tyrion Lannister’s more insightful and amusing quotes from the A Song of Ice and Fire series. As some might note, HarperCollins is not the publisher of the series in the US… but as it happens, they are in the UK, and it appears that the idea may have originated there. Now Thanks to HarperCollins UK, we now have the official press release:

HarperCollins is delighted to announce that we will be publishing a surprise Christmas gift book drawn from the works of George RR Martin.

The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister will be a small gift hardback (978-0-00-753232-2 in Short Demy – 203x135 – £9.99 November) featuring quotes and quips from one of the central characters from the A Song of Ice and Fire series (on which HBO’s hugely successful television series, Game of Throens, is based).

It has been compiled by the HarperCollins George RR Martin’s UK editor Jane Johnson and will be illustrated by artist and caricaturist Jonty Clark. Although the book is authorized by George RR Martin no new material from the author is anticipated: he is hard at work on the sixth and penultimate volume of the series, The Winds of Winter.

Jane says: “The idea for a humorous gift book featuring quotes from Tyrion seemed irresistible. He is everyone’s favourite character from the series and George’s fondness for him is evident: he gets all the best lines, even though – perhaps because – he’s no one’s idea of a traditional hero. He’s a dwarf; he’s ugly and he has a penchant for whores. He’s not gallant or heroic, and he’s completely ruthless. But he’s also witty, self-deprecating and clever; and he’s both a reader and a thinker and in my view that makes him a properly modern hero and a great subject for a little book like this.”

UK & Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights in the book were licensed from agent Christopher Lotts.

GRRM and Avatar Press

Thanks to Bleeding Cool, we’ve learned that Avatar Press executive Jim Kuhoric spoke at a panel at C2E2 about various Avatar Press projects, and in the course of it he discussed some of what’s coming from George R.R. Martin. First and foremost, of course, is the comic book adaptation of GRRM’s World Fantasy Award-winning novella The Skin Trade, to go along with their earlier adaptation of Fevre Dream. Thanks to that, Kuhoric revealed that GRRM will be at San Diego’s Comic-Con (which GRRM has previously announced), where he’ll make an appearance at Avatar’s booth and sign books.

The most intersting item, however, was Kuhoric revealing that there’s a “George R.R. Martin original” in the works, which “may” be superhero related. Kuhoric suggests this is a departure, as previously the works they’ve published have simply been adaptations. They’ll reveal more later, but what I suspect this is is a brand new Wild Cards original comic book story, which will almost certainly be scripted by someone other than GRRM (possibly Daniel Abraham, responsible for the adaptation of Fevre Dream and the Dynamic Entertainment comic Wild Cards: Hard Call?).

To see Kuhoric’s sremarks, watch below beginning at the 2:50 mark:

GRRM at ConQuest 44

Kansas City’s annual, venerable ConQuest convention is about to have its 44th(!) con from May 24th through the 26th, and as it happens, George R.R. Martin will be a guest there. He and Parris have long been supporters of this convention, which we’ve been told is one of the best fandom-organized conventions around. Many other guests will be on hand, including guests of honor Patrick Rothfuss and John Picacio (award-winning illustrator of the 2012 A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar.

Here’s the press release from the convention itself:

GRRM at Texas A&M

We previously reported that Texas A&M’s Cushing Memorial Library had arranged for “Deeper than Swords”, an exhibition of material from their collection of material from GRRM that they have been archiving for many years. Martin himself was present for a couple of days of the event, and now those who missed out on the opportunity to attend can get a taste thanks to the university recording and placing on Youtube’s Martin’s speech and interview which was a centerpiece of the whole event:

For more from the event, see this post from author Martha Wells, who attended the events and took many photos of the exhibit and events.

GRRM Launches New Official Website

For those who drop by Georgerrmartin.com—Martin’s official site on the web—will have discovered that it has now gotten something of a facelift. It contains all the great features—the essays, the photos, the miniatures, and more—that make it stand out as uniquely Martin’s personal site, but it’s been given a much more modern design. 

You know, we knew about plans for this for… well, a long while, we won’t mention how long exactly. ;) But glad to see it’s finally come to fruition.

The Telegraph Interviews GRRM

An excellent new interview with George R.R. Martin has been published by the UK newspaper The Telegraph. Conducted and written by Jessica Salter, the article takes us into Martin’s home—some very nice pictures of his collection of ASoIaF-related art, and (for us) a rather thrilling look at one of the stained glass windows he commissioned for his “Library Tower” (thrilling, because the design is very familiar)—as he discusses his life and his work.

It’s definitely worth reading.

New Jersey Monthly Interviews GRRM

George R.R. Martin may be one of the panelists at the Emmy webcast tomorrow, but if you’re eager to read an in-depth interview with him, you can’t go wrong with this very interesting interview from the New Jersey Monthly, which goes hand-in-hand with their profile of “the King of Fantasy”.

Great to hear a bit more about Martin’s early life, a bit more about the origins of the series, and some of his thoughts on the television show. Here’s a quote:

New GRRM Interview

Amazon.com’s Omnivoracious blog has a brand new interview with George R.R. Martin, discussing aspects of his work as the writer of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, as well as the Game of Thrones TV series. Note that it’s vaguely spoilerish, so if you’ve not read through at least the first three novels and your extremely paranoid regarding even the vaguest of potential spoilers, best avoid.

Martin Interviewed by Sports Illustrated

Last night, we posted about the Game of Thrones-themed Sports Illustrated Power Issue. We now have the podcast—hosted by Richard Deitsch—with GRRM, which you can find here along with a partial transcript of some of Martin’s remarks.

It’s very much sports-oriented, but there’s some remarks that touch on the characters and the setting (such as Martin’s comparison of knights to athletes).

We’ve placed this interview in the So Spake Martin collection, where you’ll find a great deal of links to interviews, correspondence, and reports from readings, panels, and conventions.

Report from Boskone

This past weekend, George R.R. Martin was at Boskone. A few reports have floated around since then, regarding his signing, the Q&A… and a reading he did of material from not one, but two chapters from The Winds of Winter. Thanks to a fan, we now have a pretty detailed rundown of what was contained in those chapters over at the A Song of Ice and Fire Forum. You can read it here, but in case it needs to be said, there are some definite spoilers therein!

For reports of other readings from Martin, and discussion of chapters he’s released on his website, you can go to our The Winds of Winter sub-forum.

World of Ice and Fire Price Change

For those who may have thought a $50 cover price was a bit steep for The World of Ice and Fire—the book we’ve co-written with George R.R. Martin—it looks like Amazon.com has received some corrected information: it’s now priced at $40, which is presently discounted down to under $28 presently (Preorder).

For that matter, the book appears to have picked up a new subtitle: “The Official History of Westeros and The World of A Game of Thrones”. This is actually news to us, since those are decisions outside of our purview.

By the by, speaking of Amazon, they’re now shipping the Game of Thrones Complete Second Season Bluray and DVD sets (Order: US Bluray, US DVD) , with the Bluray down to $29.99—more than 50% off the retail price! If you’ve missed it, I’ve written up a review discussing some of its features. I even came across a fourth dragon’s egg since that review, featuring a Littlefinger and Varys scene that fans will doubtless enjoy.

Upcoming Exhibition at Texas A&M

We’ve noted this previously, but a new article in Texas A&M’s The Eagle provides some amazing insight into the forthcoming Deeper than Swords exhibition at the Cushing Library, focused entirely on A Song of Ice and Fire and the many things that have been born from it. George R.R. Martin was invited to have his life’s work archived at the library back in 1993, in recognition of his contributions to science fiction and fantasy fiction and television, and has been a “dream donor” ever since.

Among the holdings in their archives:

‘‘More than 900 of the author’s books line the wall. The shelves are filled with Martin’s collaborative work, books he has edited, articles about him, manuscripts and correspondence.

“Intermingled with the paper products are VHS mastertapes, tickets from the Emmy Awards, boxes of trading cards, HBO tchotchkes given to actors, board games and programs for conventions where fans congregate to play board games. Nestled with the loot are life-sized replicas of Ned Stark’s greatsword and Robert Baratheon’s warhammer.”

Concerning the event itself, here’s what The Eagle has to say:

“The library’s exhibit, “Deeper than Swords,” will run from March 22 through December and is free to the public. An exhibit and author signing will last from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 22 at Cushing Library. Tickets for a priority signing line are sold out, but a limited number of first-come, first-serve fans will be granted an audience. Food vendors offering medieval treats will be located outside the library, along with actors from the The Texas Renaissance Festival, who will host games to win tickets to the fall event.

“At 6:30 p.m. Martin will give a lecture and answer questions at Rudder Auditorium. More than 1,100 of the 2,400 seats are taken, and reservations can be made for the free event at the MSC Box Office.”

(Many thanks to Olaf Keith for pointing this article out.)

Tuf Voyaging Reissued, TV Projects Discussed

Over at “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin shares the news that his science fix up novel, Tuf Voyaging, has now been reissued by Bantam Spectra. A fix up is a novel that’s constructed from a number of short stories, and in this case these stories tell the tale of Haviland Tuf—a rather eccentric merchant in the far future (in the setting Martin has dubbed the Thousand Worlds) who becomes commander of the most powerful, dangerous ship in the galaxy. They’re alternately amusing and scary, and the final part always gives me chills.

In his post and in comments, Martin ends up responding to questions regarding his recent overall deal with HBO, which will see him pitching and potentially writing and producing new series’ for HBO. Here’s what he had to say about some of the possibilities kicked around (we’ve bolded text for key points):

GRRM Signs Deal with HBO

This is pretty cool: George R.R. Martin has signed an overall deal with HBO, according to Deadline’s Neelie Andreeva.

What does that mean? Per the article:

... has signed a two-year overall deal with the pay cable network. 
Under the pact, Martin will continue as co-executive producer on Game Of Thrones, whose Season 3 premieres March 31. Additionally, he will develop and produce new series projects for the network.