Westeros
The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain
News
We had an inkling of this awhile back, but now it’s official: an enhanced e-book of A Game of Thrones has come out from the UK’s Harper Collins Voyager, containing some really cool features that add to the experience such as a glossary of characters, a dynamic map tracking characters’ movements from chapter to chapter (note: the web-accessible version seems buggy, but one assumes it’s working just fine in the app), and exclusive audio clips from the audio book read by Roy Dotrice (who received a Guiness Book of World Records entry for most voices by an individual in a single audio book).
The e-book is an iOS exclusive, at least at this time, and is sold only from the UK bookstore.
Here’s the full details:
HarperVoyager is delighted to announce the publication of the enhanced edition of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones ebook.
Crafted to help readers navigate Martin’s epic and multifarious plot with ease, this new edition features an interactive map tracking the locations of a range of perspective characters throughout the novel. The dynamic map is also an industry first, because by accessing the map at key points within the text, the reader is able to follow the movement of the POV characters in the story.
The interactive edition is powered by GestureKit, a proprietary coding framework developed by HarperCollins in conjunction with Mark Griffifths of The Bespoke Pixel. The same technology has already facilitated an interactive edition of Sanctus, Simon Toyne’s bestselling thriller.
In addition to the dynamic map, the ebook also features two exclusive new maps featuring detailed renderings of King’s Landing and The Wall, and presents readers with a fully hyperlinked glossary, allowing them to look-up character details and family lineage at any point in the plot. Thirteen audio clips, featuring award-winning actor Roy Dotrice’s rendering of Martin’s epic, are also integrated throughout the novel.
HarperCollins Group Digital Director David Roth-Ey said, ‘We’re delighted to be able to offer readers this augmented edition of A Game of Thrones, which perfectly complements Martin’s multifarious and engaging plot. GestureKit opens up all sorts of possibilities for exciting editions, and it seemed only right that George should be the first benefactor of this new technology’.
The interactive edition will be available from Apple’s iBookstore, with parallel editions including the new mapping, hyperlinking and audio extracts available across other ebook retail outlets.
Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, the first instalment of which—A Game of Thrones—premiered this year on HBO and Sky Atlantic, has sold over 340,000 copies in ebook format in 2011, with over 1.2 million books sold in total in the UK.
And just to get a better look, here’s a demonstration of the enhanced edition features on Youtube:
Have to see, I’m particularly taken with that approach to depicting the Wall and the castles of the Night’s Watch. Awesome.