After a long hiatus, it appears that Swedish publisher Forum is giving the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series a third try in translation. Originally having published the first novel back in 1997, slow sales in Sweden led them to drop it until a few years ago when they published the first three novels in the series in translation. Again, however, slow sales—Sweden has a very high percentage of readers who read genre fiction in English rather than in translation—led them to stop. Now they’re back at it, republishing the first three books in paperback and then tackling A Feast for Crows.
Right when the TV series was in the offing, there were efforts to get Forum to bring the books back into print, including some e-mails from us urging them to that effect. The staggering popularity of the new novel, and the series in general following HBO’s television adaptation, seems to have finally swayed Forum to give it another chance.
Here’s their present publishing plan, with the first three novels being republished in paperback:
Finally providing confirmation for what had apparently been the case for awhile, HBO has released the following statement concerning the three locations in which shooting for the second season of Game of Thrones would be taking place:
Two additional locations have been chosen for the second season of the HBO series, Game of Thrones. The production, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, will shoot segments of the new season in Croatia and Iceland.
Croatian sites will serve as some of the Southern locations in the series while several scenes “beyond the Wall” will be shot in Iceland.
We’ve previously reported on the shooting locations topic. For those Maltese extras and fans who had hoped to see the production shooting there again, this must be a disappointment, but we know that there’ll be a whole lot of Croatian fans eager to know all about the filming there—much of it centered on scenic medieval city Dubrovnik, where casting for extras is ongoing, according to Dubrovinknet (Croatian).
And another casting surfaces, thanks to the wonders of social media!
German actress Laura Pradelska tweeted the following earlier today:
We’re guessing that that would be the mysterious, masked sorceress Quaithe who is one of several individuals who’ll seek out Daenerys this season.
Pradelska, who’s based in London, had a number of theatre roles to her credit, and below you can see her in a performance of William Whitehurst’s Knuckleball, directed by Andy McQuade:
Each new season is likely to bring not just new actors, but also new directors. Thanks to a sharp-eyed fan, we’ve discovered that actor Forbes KB is listed as playing the part of the famous ironborn warrior Black Lorren... in at least one episode directed by David Petrarca, another in a long list of HBO mainstays. In the last three years, he’s directed HBO episodes almost exclusively, including episodes of Big Love, True Blood, and Boardwalk Empire. He joins Alan Taylor, who was previously announced as directing four episodes for this new season.
Going back to Forbes KB, this character actor has had quite a few roles over the years, and as you can guess by his appearance, he’s often cast as a tough or heavy. He should be just fine as the fierce Black Lorren, a fearless ironborn reaver. Below’s a show reel of the actor:
Roy Dotrice may have been cast as the pyromancer Hallyne in HBO’s Game of Thrones, but for most fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, he’s probably best known as the voice narrating most of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series for Random House’s audiobooks. In the course of that, he’s garnered a Guiness Book of World Records entry. Now, Random House Audio has an interview with the esteemed actor, discussing his work on A Dance with Dragons (which sounds like it may be rewriting that record book), with a few clips of his reading.
Plus, yes, he discusses his role in the TV show!
It sure seems so. There was some surprise here and there on the web when Momoa revealed he had written a treatment for the Conan sequel, which he hoped they would use if to goes ahead. And there was certainly surprise and amusement in the fan community when Momoa made it clear on several occasions that he’d love to return to Game of Thrones, suggesting Drogo could have a twin brother or that magic might somehow be involved.
But did anyone realize that he actually wrote scenes featuring a returned Drogo, which he’s apparently presented to executive producers Benioff and Weiss? Because, according to his interview with NY Magazine’s Vulture site, that’s exactly what he did. Here’s the relevant quote:
I wrote some scenes and they might try to use them. George [R.R. Martin] can only write so much. Something could happen. Drogo could have a twin. You never know.
Got to love his enthusiasm for the show. Speaking of that, he was on Conan O’Brien last night. Here’s an embed of his appearance, where Game of Thrones is mentioned, although much of it is about his soon-in-theaters Conan 3D:
John Hodgman—writer, actor, comedian, and a gentleman who knows everything worth knowing—makes a nod to his George R.R. Martin fandom once again, this time on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Brought in to comment on the challenges of digital distribution for brick-and-mortar bookstores following the bankruptcy of Borders, Hodgman has some… thoughts on steps booksellers might take.
If you’re in the U.S. (and possibly elsewhere, can’t say for sure), here’s the clip from Hulu after the advert:
SF Signal, one of the best blogs keeping a tab on what’s going on in the science fiction genre, has a guest post from Raz Greenberg discussing George R.R. Martin’s proposed Doorways series, which was an original science fiction drama/adventure series that Martin created and executive produced for ABC. They made a pilot which pleased the powers that be… but then the usual story of a change in management meant that it was put on the backburner and, ultimately shelved.
This disappointment wasn’t all bad, though, as it helped fuel part of George’s push to write Avalon... which in turn led to a vivid image of a dead direwolf and her pups, found amidst the summer snow; the rest is history.
Greenberg gives an excellent overview of the history of the project, reviews the pilot episode (which is extremely hard to find—I’ve tried to get a hold of the VHS in Europe and haven’t had much luck), and then discusses the IDW comic book adaptation which was recently collected as a graphic novel (US, UK). Well-worth checking out!
If you’re in New York City, this one’s for you.
Have to love the fans and readers of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, because they keep coming up with amazing ways to share their fandom. The latest?
The Bushwick Book Cub of Brooklyn gathers each month to feature songs inspired by their latest book club selection, written by local songwriters and musicians who perform them at the Goodbye Blue Monday bar. And this month? They’ve been reading, and composing songs for, George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. The club will gather this Thursday at 8PM at Goodbye Blue Monday, and fans of books and music are invited to attend and share in the experience.
Here’s the address:
Goodbye Blue Monday
1087 Broadway (JMZ to Myrtle or J to Kosciusko)
Brooklyn, NY 11221
ph: 718 453 6343
According to organizer Susan Hwang, seven different musical acts are on the slate, including Sweet Soubrette, Dan and Rachel, and Natti Vogel.
Looking forward to seeing pictures and reports from the event!
Another announcement that came by way of George’s “Not a Blog” is the news that renowned fantasy artist (one of the “Big Three” Tolkien artists, alongside Alan Lee and John Howe) Ted Nasmith has signed on to illustrate the new, Subterranean Press limited edition of A Game of Thrones. Nasmith, of course, illustrated the gorgeous 2011 calendar, and will be providing illustrations for The World of Ice and Fire guide book that we are co-authoring with George.
Having helped Mr. Nasmith a little bit with research for the calendar, we know he’s going to do an amazing job realizing some of the scenes and locations from the novel. We’re particularly hopeful that we’ll get a glimpse of Pentos, Vaes Dothrak, and the Mountains of the Moon in his depictions.
George’s post explains the long history of the limited editions of his novels, including the start with Meisha Merlin until its bankruptcy and their being picked up by Subterranean Press. It’s an interesting read, and shows off a bit of the art along the way.
This past weekend, George R.R. Martin posted at “Not a Blog” about two scripts that had been sent to him to be auctioned for charity at this year’s Worldcon, Renovation, appear to have been stolen while in transit to his office. The scripts for episode 9 and 10 were signed by David Benioff, Dan Weiss, and director Alan Taylor. It’s very unfortunate, and we suggest that if anyone spots scripts on Ebay or at other sites matching the above description, to please report it in.
After yesterday’s report that Oona Chaplin—granddaughter of Charline Chaplin—had revealed she was in Game of Thrones, we fielded quite a lot of speculation from fans as to who she might be. A lot of names were thrown out, and we admit, we were intrigued (and hopeful) that it might be Elia of Dorne, which would confirm that there might be a flashback to the time of Robert’s Rebellion…
But HBO has kindly provided us her name, and it’s not Elia: no, Oona will be playing Jeyne—
Mo Ryan‘s at it again: after having interviewed executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss, she’s now sharing the first part of what’s looking to be a fairly lengthy interview with George R.R. Martin. Some great remarks concerning the adaptation of his novel to the screen, and a bit of back-and-forth on the topic of “sexposition” that’s worth reading.
Check it out, and keep an eye out for part two tomorrow!
Oona Chaplin, grand-daughter of Charlie Chaplin and a young actress of some note (she’s presently appearing in the BBC’s high-end period drama, The Hour), writes about what her perfect weekend would be, and in the course of it she dropped this tidbit:
I’ve got a part in Game of Thrones…
By her looks (she’s half-Chilean), she’d pass for a Dornishwoman, wouldn’t she? Or someone from the Free Cities. Someone from other parts of Westeros, too, sure, depending on how make-up goes. Suggestions that have been put forward: the mysterious Quaithe of Asshai, Jeyne Westerling (she’s one-quarter Eastern, after all), Meera Reed (“Too tall!” the inner fanboy cries), Jhiqui, and, rather intringuingly, the dead Elia of Dorne. Is the show relenting on flashbacks, after strenuously avoiding them last season? We can only hope.
Thanks to The Rabbit for pointing out the article.
Cyanide Studio, who are developing the strategy game A Game of Throne: Genesis for release later this year, have also been (fairly quietly) working on another project: an A Game of Thrones roleplaying game. We’ve had some reports and images before in the French gaming media, but France’s Gamekult website now has an extensive video featuring the game’s lead designer, Sylvain Séchi, and a whole heap of shots from the game engine, including in-game cinematic sequences, level designs, and even a few glimpses of the combat.
See below for the video, and some comments: