Bantam Dell has posted a new blurb for A Dance with Dragons. A publication date, October 2008, is also given, but as always until the book is actually completed and turn in all announced publication dates are tentative at best.

According to this article at ICv2, Green Ronin will distribute a free short adventure titled A Song of Ice and Fire Quick Play to stores participating in Free RPG Day on June 21st. The short adventure will be a preview of the full A Song of Ice and Fire RPG that Green Ronin is developing, a 192-page, full color book featuring a custom gaming system.

The Dabels have posted information concerning how to order the first issue of the new, all-original Wild Cards comic miniseries, The Hard Call, from your local comic book shop as well as information on how to find shops in your area via Diamond Distributor’s Comic Shop Locator Service.

Inside Straight, the long-awaited new entry into the Wild Cards series, has just hit the shelves. With a number of positive early reviews already in its favor, it looks like it’s going to be a great new start to one of the best and longest-running shared world anthology series out there. To keep track of Wild Cards information, be sure to check the official website fort he series at Wild Cards Books.

Dabel Brothers Productions has recently discovered that a number of the Michael Komark-illustrated, limited edition “A Song of Ice and Fire” art prints (previously reported on here) were not shipped to individuals in international locations due to a paperwork error. The Dabels here that they’ve worked to rectify this as quickly as possible, to get these beautiful prints back into the hands of eager fans and collectors.

GRRM has been informed that Semana Negra, a literary and cultural festival in Gijón, Spain, has had its starting date moved back from the 4th to the 11th of July. George and Parris will both be present at the event for roughly a week, and certainly hope to see and meet as many fans at possible at the location. A good place to check for updates and discussions of fan activities is the ASoIaF forum, specifically this thread. If you know any European fans, especially from the Iberian peninsula, make sure they’re aware of this opportunity to see George not only in Gijón, but probably also in Madrid and Barcelona while he’s there.

Fantasy Flight Games, publishers of the acclaimed A Game of Thrones CCG and board game, have announced that the collectible card game will be radically revamped in the near future. Details of the announcement can be found at the card game’s official site. In brief, the CCG will be revamped into a Living Card Game (LCG), with regular releases of fixed decks. The hope behind this is that it will lower the bar to entry for new players, for the most part remove the issue of collectibility (and associated high costs), renew stocking levels at stores, and more. 

Valyrian Steel has updated to note that though producing Longclaw has taken longer than initially planned, they’re now hoping to get the final details settled by the end of the month so that they can begin production and have them ready for delivery by May. They mention that after Longclaw, Needle will be the next sword they’ll reproduce, and after that Ice unless A Dance with Dragons introduces a sword they’d rather do.

Dark Sword Miniatures has sent an e-mail on their list indicating that sales have been strong on the first set of miniatures, and that in six to eight weeks they’ll work in earnest on the next ten figures in Tom Meier’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of miniatures.

Finally, Marvel Comics has released issue 4 (of 6) of The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword after a long delay. The same creative team from the previous issues, Ben Avery and Mike S. Miller, are still at work on it, and it looks like it’ll wrap up well indeed. Definitely hit your nearest comic shop to get a hold of it, if you can.

GRRM’s official site has been updated with a new sample chapter (Jon’s first chapter) and a new update on the progress of A Dance with Dragons. In brief: the book is not done, but currently GRRM has set the goal of attempting to get it done and delivered by the summer. Moreover, he reveals that he’s adding a point of view character who has never had a POV before, and that it is one of the characters released in the first batch of miniatures from Dark Sword Miniature, which are pictured on the News page.

Tor has launched an official site for the Wild Cards series, in preparation for the release of Inside Straight. The site features an introducion by George R. R. Martin, interviews with contributing authors such as John J. Miller, Michael Cassut, Daniel Abraham, Carrie Vaughn, and more, and a special hidden feature—the first ever Wild Cards story, never before published—when you sign up for the e-mail list.

The following press release is, in brief, about this and this (and also this). Want to get them? Read below!

(And yes, the art on the prnts is by the phenomenal Michael Komarck.)

According to Ted Nasmith, various pieces of castle art he has completed from the forthcoming The World of Ice and Fire will be on display at an exhibition at Redesdale Hall in the town of Moreton-in-Marsh in England. The exhibition is tentatively scheduled for April 4th through 8th, and Nasmith promises to have more details nearer to April.

GRRM’s official site has been updated with new items in the “News” section, principally further information on the cross-genre Warriors anthology he will be co-editing with Gardner Dozois and the announcement of the delivery of the next Wild Cards novel, Busted Flush, to Tor.

Dark Sword Miniatures, under pressure from fans, have gone ahead and made pre-ordering of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” miniatures now available! The first 99 orders for complete sets of the first ten figures will receive a special certificate, and everyone who orders a complete set by the 15th will be entered into a prize drawing featuring several gift certificates and signed copies of books by GRRM or relating to “A Song of Ice and Fire”.

The online store can be found here.

Dabel Brothers Productions have plans to release officially licensed prints of characters and scenes from several different fantasy series (including A Song of Ice and Fire), and are asking you—the fans—for your opinion!

The poll can be found here at the forum, where you must be a member to participate. It is multiple choice, and you can check all the ones that apply (i.e. if you’re interested in all three, check all three). Included in the initial post are a pair of images from two of the three proposed series to get this treatment. As noted there, we’ve had a sneak peek at the proposed art for the Ice and Fire prints, and they are quite stunning.