Westeros

A great new video has shown up on the official Game of Thrones Youtube channel, which features the filming in Iceland… and our very first look at Mackenzie Crook as Orell:

Courtesy of HBO, here’s one of our very favorite things that come from the Season 2 Blurays (Preorder: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk): the extras featuring the History of Westeros. Last season’s were amazing, but we’re told that this set is going to be even better, with more animation and that wonderful narration by the actors delivering these bits of knowledge as their characters. Here’s Wisdom Hallyne, the pyromancer, telling us all about his order and wildfire:

Have to love Roy Dotrice.

The Bluray hits retailers on February 19th in the U.S., early March in the U.K. and Europe.

This, as they say, is the motherload: many, many stills of characters (both old and new) from the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, set to air on March 31st.

Some terrific images of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, the red priest Thoros of Myr, the siblings Meera and Jojen Reed… and some hints as to which episodes many of these characters appearing in.

So, hurry along and check out our gallery and share your thoughts! We may go back and provide further comments to the images when we have a chance.

And now a surprise, as George R.R. Martin trots out Froggie the Gremlin for a most unexpected casting clue. For those who’ve missed them previously, for prior seasons Martin has occasionally revealed actors who’ve been cast in roles by the use of clues. Inevitably, he’d use his Froggy the Gremlin avatar to signal when it was a clue.

This one threw me, since it’s rather early to be casting season 4 when the 5th season isn’t even greenlit. But of course, others who are smarter (or at least in earlier timezones) resolved the clue quite quickly: “It’s the Pits!” refers to a specific pit that will be appearing this season, and the “son of Homer” is, of course, Bart Simpson.

Here’s a rare sight: an interview with actor Conleth Hill, who so memorably plays the role of the eunuch master of whisperers, Varys. Hill, a noted and award-winning theater actor, largely discusses theater matters… but there are some remarks regarding Game of Thrones, including the fact that he originally read for a different role entirely before being offered the part of Varys.

The official Game of Thrones Tumblr has just announced a contest for art-inclined fans of the television series. The challenge? Create your own fan poster for Season 3. The rules explain all you need to know about the requirements to participate, as well as the rather substantial prize package with an estimated retail value just south of $5,000 (including the limited edition Iron Throne and the awesome direwolf bookends from Dark Horse.)

The contest runs from now to 12 PM Eastern time on to June 14th, so plenty of time to get to work!

Over at “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin has posted the fact that he and co-editor Gardner Dozois have delivered the cross-genre anthology, Dangerous Women. He has provided a full list of contents, and there’s a surprise in there for fans of the series:

Emphasis mine, for those looking for details on Martin’s story.

Here’s a couple of fascinating tidbits from interviews with Ciarán Hinds and James Purefory, both who had been on HBO’s Rome—a fine show, one of the most lavish productions ever put to screen as a regular hour long drama—and who have been asked (for various reasons) to remark on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Of course, only one of these actors is actually on the show, but the other has been a fan-favorite when it comes to casting speculation…

First, of course, is Ciarán Hinds, the actor cast as Mance Rayder whom we recently glimpsed in HBO’s latest video. Speaking to Irish Central, Hinds had the following to say about the first season of the show when he decided to catch up to it:

We’ve just received word that Random House’s A Game of Thrones comic book adaptation, written by Daniel Abraham> and drawn by artist Tommy F. Patterson,  is now available through an app at the US iTunes Store. A faithful adaptation of the books, fans of the TV show will find scenes that never made it to the television series, while fans of the novels will get to see the world and characters visualized with George R.R. Martin’s input.

The app costs $3.99, but includes the first issue of the series for free. To learn more, check out our interview with writer (and author) Daniel Abraham shortly after the project was announced.

A shower of riches from HBO, as yet another video featuring characters and moments from the third season has appeared on the official Game of Thrones Youtube channel:

I haven’t even finished screen-capping the last one!

This is a nice bit of information (thanks to Olaf Keith for pointing it out: according to USA Today, every book of the A Song of Ice and Fire series were among the 100 top-selling novels of 2012. The highest placed on the list? The first and the oldest, A Game of Thrones, at #21. That’s quite a position for a book published 16 years ago!

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, everyone’s favorite Kingslayer, was recently in Canada to promote his new film, Mama, a Guillermo del Toro-produced horror film that’s been getting some positive press.

Of course, where there’s film promotion, there are interviews. One of the best interviewers in Canada is George Stroumboulopoulos, who had a great interview with George R.R. Martin last year, and it looks like his interview with Coster-Waldau is similarly interesting. Here’s

the whole interview which will air tonight on CBC Television at 7PM, and should be on-line at the George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight Youtube channel soon thereafter, which features some discussion of Game of Thrones at the 3:55 mark:

Courtesy of Tor.com, Daniel Abraham’s original story set in the WIld Cards shared-world universe is now available on-line. “When We Were Heroes”  features Curveball and Bugsy, two characters introduced in the “new” Wild Cards trilogy that began with 2008’s Inside Straight. Tor.com suggests that this is the first of several stories George R.R. Martin has commissioned in the wake of the success of Fort Freak.

In further news, over at “Not a Blog” GRRM has noted that the follow-up to Fort Freak, Lowball, is nearly done, and that the third novel in this trilogy—High Stakes—will be in progress immediately after Lowball has been delivered to the publisher.

HBO’s official Game of Thrones Youtube channel has uploaded a brand new video, featuring writer and editor Bryan Cogman (recently interviewed here regarding season 3) about the process of turning the books into the series. Cogman’s work entails providing the notes and outlines of the books that help serve as the underpinnings of the upcoming season, and it’s interesting to see that process described somewhat. Also, the video features some glimpses of season 3 filming, including a brief scene featuring Dame Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell, as well as other new cast members such as Ciarán Hinds as the King-beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder (lacking, alas, his black cloak sewn with red silk) and Clive Russell as Ser Brynden Tully, called the Blackfish.

Valyrian Steel has reported that they have received 25 copies of Dark Horse‘s Iron Throne replica, part of a set of 125 that were artist proof’s, due to an error. However, it seems HBO has decided to allow Valyrian Steel to keep them and sell them on to fans who might be interested. It’s a rare opportunity to get a hold of a very rare (and high quality) replica item, and you can place an order here at Valyrian Steel’s storefront.

The regular limited edition of the throne can be found at Amazon.com, while a miniature and more widely available (and therefore more affordable) version can be found at Things From Another World, which ships globally.