Westeros

According to the announcement at the Inn at the Crossroads, their recipe book—titled A Feast of Ice and Fire—will be published by Random House in Fall 2012, with a tentative September date. Congratulations to the chefs! For more on the project, see our earlier report on the initial announcement of the project, and interviewed Sariann and Chelsea for Suvudu.

The ever-sharp eyed Rabbit has spotted a previously-unrevealed member of the cast: Tony Way is listed as Dontos—as in Ser Dontos Hollard—on his agency’s page. Perhaps she was put on the trail by this tweet from the actor, indicating he had spent the day in armor. As we’ve learned from sources with the production, Joffrey’s nameday festivities were being filmed around now,  and Dontos plays a significant role in that scene. The character was actually first introduced in A Game of Thrones, but only mentioned in passing. He plays a significantly more substantial role in A Clash of Kings.

George R.R. Martin has alerted us to the fact that Amazon.com has secured an exclusive box set of the first four novels in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. All four novels are in hardcover and feature matching cover designs, sold together with a slipcase that features the Iron Throne from HBO’s Game of Thrones, This set is sold only through Amazon.com.

For Spanish-speaking fans, the Miami-based website Café Fuerte has posted an interview with one half of the Westeros.org duo, Elio (aka me), concerning George R. R. Martin, the fans, and more. Enjoy!

Filming for Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik has continued this week, and Mark Thomas of the Dubrovnik Times continues to deliver with his photo-filled reports on the production. This time, photos include a colloquy between executive producer Dan Weiss, Emmy-winner Peter Dinklage (yes, we’re officially appending Emmy-winner to every mention of Emmy-winner Peter Dinklage from now on… or at least until it gets old!), Jack Gleeson (Prince Joffrey), and Ian Beattie (Ser Meryn Trant).

The report notes that as many as 200 people are working on the production on a daily basis—including extras, stuntmen, and more—and that “more than a million Kuna” (That seems to be about USD $181000) is being paid to Croatian companies directly involved in the filming.

As to Northern Ireland? We’ve had several days of extras reporting they were taking part in a huge battle sequence, and this last couple of days it seems Liam Cunningham (playing Davos Seaworth) has been hinting at some interesting night shoots. The Neil Marshall-directed, George R.R. Martin-scripted “Blackwater” seems to be going forward smoothly, and so far the weather has been playing relatively nice after the gale winds that tore down a catering tent and caused early shut down of filming scenes involving Renly Baratheon’s camp.

Although no professional reviews of the A Game of Thrones: Genesis game have been published yet, gamers have been hot at it, trying the game’s various modes—single player campaign, house vs. house, multiplayer—and opinions seem to vary. But now one fan has helped make it a bit easier to decide before you buy, as he’s put together a few videos following his own play through of the game, starting from the tutorial, extending to a part of the campaign, and on to the house vs. house. Dukely1’s playlist featuring the videos (at least one more is forthcoming, apparently) can be found embedded below.

So, Amazon has announced a host of new products—$79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, $149 Kindle Touch 3G—but the absolute highlight of the press conference was to unveil the Kindle Fire, a $199(!) media tablet. Lots and lots of press coverage… but two funny things, for fans of GRRM, and for fans of some loosely related work as well.

The official release of A Game of Thrones: Genesis is September 29th—tomorrow—but that’s September 29th, midnight Paris time.

According to publisher Focus Home Interactive, this means that those who have pre-ordered the digital download of the game should be able to receive their activation codes some time in the U.S. evening.  There’s already reports that those who’ve pre-ordered on Steam have been able to download and install the strategy game (PC only), and just need the activation for the game.

Also, for those who prefer their games in boxed, physical media, it looks like Amazon.co.uk will be shipping it on the 30th (but apparently to UK customers only). We expect other retailers may already have them to ship, so it’s worth looking around your gamesellers of choice.

The launch of the first issue of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones was apparently a roaring success: the first printing has sold out, and we have reports that fans making their way to comic shops found that all the issues were gone. Well, good news: it’s gone back for a second printing according to Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool. According to his post, the book should hit shelves on October 19th, a week prior to the release of the A Game of Thrones #2.

HBO released a very, very short promo for season 2 as part of a special upcoming projects feature before the season premiere of Boardwalk Empire. Here it is:

We’ve been busy with a good deal of behind-the-scenes stuff, but we’ve been collecting a few links from around the web this last week—ever since Peter Dinklage’s Emmy win—and we’re going to hit you with some of the best of the material from the week. Some interesting things here, from glimpses of sets and filming in both Northern Ireland and Croatia, to some hints about the filming in Iceland later in the year, and more. Keep reading!

With a week to go for the release of A Game of Thrones: Genesis, Cyanide and Focus Home have released an official trailer via the game site, and we have it here for your delectation. It gives a few brief glimpses of the game engine, including some examples of a dragon—which I suspect is supposed to be Balerion, the Black Dread—in action:

The game is available for pre-order via Games Planet, and will start hitting the digital site on September 29th. You can read a bit more about the game in our earlier post.

We’ve previously interviewed Daniel Abraham, the writer and frequent collaborator with George R.R. Martin who’s scripting Dynamite’s George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones comic, but we had to point out Comic Book Resource’s new interview. Some good stuff… and one particular bit that stood out for us, and will doubtless send fans scrambling to speculate.

The comic book adaptation of the bestselling first novel in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, A Game of Thrones, is finally hitting shelves today! Dynamite will be publishing single issues, beginning with today’s arrival of issue #1.

Featuring variant covers by Mike S. Miller (of The Hedge Knight) and the famed Alex Ross (Kingdom Come), writing by Daniel Abraham (whom we’ve interviewed about the project when it was first announced), and art by Tommy Patterson, this is the first of a planned 24 issues that would adapt the first novel. Bantam—publisher of the novels in the U.S:—will step up to publish the collected editions as they become available; we’d expect six issues per collection.

Where to find it? You have some options, thankfully! There’s always your friendly local comic shop, which you can find via the Comic Shop Locator if you’re not sure. Other than that, it may take ordering it from a comic shop online, waiting for the collection, or seeing if digital distribution (via ComiXology or Graphic.ly) will become an option, as it presently doesn’t seem to be.

For a preview, make sure to visit Dynamite’s Game of Thrones #1 page.

On this day 63 years ago, one George Martin was born in Bayonne, New Jersey—and that, I’m sure we’d all agree, was a great thing! Many felicitations and well-wishes, not just from Linda and I, but from fans around the world are going out to GRRM on this special occasion.

With Game of Thrones now having made its mark at the Emmys, with A Dance with Dragons still flying high on the bestseller lists, with “A Song of Ice and Fire” propelling Martin into rare company, with the Game of Thrones comic book from Dynamite Entertainment about to hit shelves tomorrow, and A Game of Thrones: Genesis soon to be on sale (even as an RPG is in development, too), and Martin included on the TIME 100, and his having married the love of his life, and…

Well, lets just say that George has been having a very good year, and deservedly, and we can only wish him many more!

Interest in Game of Thrones is high in Croatia, thanks to the production currently filming there, and that’s led to some interesting reports (both official, via news media, and unofficial by interested fans and maybe the occasional extra). One of the former can be seen below, a short piece depicting extras in costume as Kingslanders and gold cloaks, filming at the Minčeta Tower. Perhaps of greatest interest, however, are the two actors interviewed: Dominic Carter (mistakingly identified as ‘Jonatan Cohen’), who plays Janos Slynt, and Andrew Wilde who plays Tobho Mott.

The video, and some comments on what the actors said (since it’s over-dubbed into Croatian) below:

A press release has just gone out from Amazon.com, announcing that George R.R. Martin is the latest author to move over a million copies of his books via the Kindle Store. The release includes a quote from Martin, and notes that so far only ten other authors (including fellow HBO-adapted writer, Charlaine Harris) have earned that distinction.

You can find the relevant portion of the release below:

About a month ago, John Hodgman tweeted that it looked like he’d be filling in on The Sound of Young America radio show/podcast, and it turns out that this is the week in which the interview airs. Hodgman is a terrific interviewer, and there’s some great discussion about science fiction fandom, the fans of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, some spoilery material regarding death in the series (skip that part if you haven’t read through A Storm of Swords!), and more. The interview appears to have been recorded some time after the end of Worldcon.

Listen in to the interview!

(Thanks to Ed for pointing out that the interview has aired.)

In what has to be considered an upset, Peter Dinklage has won the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama category, beating out stiff competition from John Slattery, Walton Goggins, Andre Braugher, Alan Cumming, and Josh Charles. There was a clear trend among critics on-line liking Dinklage and often selecting him for their “should win” hedges, but still, the money was on someone else winning…

And as it turns out, the oddsmakers were wrong. A well-deserved victory for Dinklage, who brought Tyrion Lannister to vivid life. Congratulations, Peter! And congratulations to all the winners, especially Mad Men for their taking Best Drama Series—it may be a bit of a broken record, but the show’s fourth season was amazing.

Game of Thrones finishes the award season with two wins out of thirteen nominations, for Main Title Design and Best Supporting Actor. Hopefully the first of many to come! Below, we’ve collected a few photos and a brief red-carpet interview with Dinklage.

We’re just a few short hours from the start of the Emmy Awards, for which HBO’s Game of Thrones is up for four categories for the primetime broadcast: Best Writing (David Benioff & Dan Weiss for “Baelor”), Best Direction (Tim Van Patten for “Winter is Coming”), Best Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), and Best Series.

Now, after the Creative Arts Emmys lead to one win in nine categories, it seems unlikely that Game of Thrones is going to do very well in the primetime awards. There’s incredibly strong competition in every single category the show is nominated in. Experts and critics did seem to think there’s an outside chance at Peter Dinklage snatching victory from John Slattery (of Mad Men) for a fourth time in a row, and certainly he Dinklage seems a critical darling. But… you know, three straight losses—it’s probably Slattery’s time, isn’t it?

Now, the Red Carpet cover is going out, and as it happens, we know that a number of cast and crew members—the nominated exec producers/writers, Tim van Patten, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, and perhaps others—are present… and, as it happens, so is one George R. R. Martin with his wife, Parris McBride. PopSugar is streaming Emmy coverage live, so on the off-chance they’ll speak with some of the GoT attendees, we’re embedding their coverage below.

There’s a lengthy profile of Natalie Dormer, one of the first Season 2 castings we learned about when it was revealed that she was Margaery Tyrell, is profiled by Gerard Gilbet in a lengthy piece at the Independent. A lot of details about her early life and career, including how she wanted to get away from the Anne Boleyn image of The Tudors for awhile… and then some tidbits about Game of Thrones, of course.

The quotes below are spoilerish for those who’ve not read the second book, A Clash of Kings, on which this season is based:

Entertainment Weekly has published the results of its EWwy Awards!

it was a pleasant surprise to learn that Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) has won in the Best Supporting Actress, Drama category. Scoring 25.22% of the vote, she narrowly edged out Sara Ramirez of Grey’s Anatomy.

As for other Game of Thrones actors, Sean Bean was nominated in the Best Actor, Drama category, and made a solid showing at 15% of the vote, but well out of the winner’s circle, where popular actor (and Game of Thrones fanatic!) Nathan Filion crushed the competition with over 37% of the vote.

Thanks to ElaineLua for the note, and congratulations to Emilia and all the other winners!

Over the last couple of weeks, it’s been noted that actor Steven Cole—best-known in the U.K. for his role as Leo Johnsons in the soap Brookside—has been noting that he’s been taking riding lessons, had a costume fitting, and so on, and it was clear he was cast in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Today, newly arrived in Dubrovnik (during which there’ll be 4 weeks of shooting or so), he tweeted the following:

Fans of the novels will, of course, realize that that name doesn’t appear in the books. He is, it seems, a new character—or maybe a renamed one—and we know he’s playing a Dothraki, as Dothraki language creator David J. Peterson responded to a query from us, indicating that Kovarro’s name is based on rules for creating Dothraki names that he provided the production. Bryan Cogman then noted that the name means “to be standing up”. 

It should be interesting to see what his role is, when the show airs or the first interviews start coming out in the run up to the premiere.

Conan Stevens, the 7’ Australian stuntman and actor who played Ser Gregor Clegane for the Hand’s Tourney, will no longer be holding the part.

We got wind of this back in early August (as well as the name of his replacement), but waited to see if all this would be officially confirmed. The production is reticent to discuss recasting (and according to our sources, this isn’t the only recasting, although the roles in question are not major) and so HBO hasn’t provided confirmation from its side; however, Stevens has since publicly stated that he is in fact no longer with the production. Stevens has detailed the steps he took to get the role on his site (and in our interview), going all-out, and it clearly opened doors for him as he’s now busy with The Hobbit (which he specifically remarked was an opportunity that came out of Game of Thrones) and also had a speaking role in the second season of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

However, unofficially we can say that another 7’ tall actor and stuntman, Welshman Ian Whyte, is taking over the role. Fans who followed the early production may remember him as one of the actors who appeared to have auditioned for the role of Ser Gregor, and then nothing was heard of him. In October, when I visited the set, I learned that Whyte was playing the part of the lead White Walker in the prologue, which only came to be confirmed when that episode aired and he was listed in the credits. Since then, Whyte’s filmed scenes last week as Ser Gregor for this second season, scenes which started up the rumor mill.

Looking at Whyte, he’s very tall, but he’s also clearly a deal leaner than Stevens. Of course, Stevens as Ser Gregor had his bulk greatly enhanced by the armor—a second suit of which a stunt rider used for the jousting scene, and who could tell the difference?—and we’re sure that Simon Brindle and company will be able to give Whyte that same sense of massiveness as the Mountain that Rides.

We’re certainly looking forward to seeing Whyte’s turn… as well as seeing Stevens in next year’s Spartacus, and (especially) as the orc Azog in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit.

Below you’ll find a clip of Whyte being interviewed at Toronto’s Comic Con, in relation to his role as the lead Predator in Alien vs. Predator

In other casting news, Winter is Coming has received confirmation that Fintan McKeown has been cast in the role of Ser Amory Lorch, one of Lord Tywin’s lead foragers who helps bring fire and steel down on the Riverlands. Among many other roles, McKeown appeared as the antagonistic King Odin in the British Merlin series.

Valyrian Steel has announced that they’re putting their replica Longclaw and Needle on sale for a limited time, knocking $20 off the price. These official, approved replicas are based on the weapons as described in the novels, with George R.R. Martin’s direct input, unlike the weapons for HBO’s television show. The announcement also includes updates on a number of fronts, including the fact that George has signed off on production of a very limited run of a Damascus steel Ice, Robert’s warhammer is being prototyped, and so too is their next replica, a Night’s Watch obsidian dagger, and a Damascus steel Oathkeeper.

The PC strategy game, A Game of Thrones: Genesis, is now available for preorder at the Focus Home shop at the digital download vendor Gamesplanet, which should be available internationally. The game is due to release on September 29th (at exactly one minute after midnight), but digital download preorders are 10% off and if you’re in the States you’ll actually be able to get the game on the evening of the 28th.

I’ve consulted a little bit on the game and had a chance to play with a beta and it is, I think, a pretty unique game. It’s real time, and it’s a strategy game, but it’s not anything like a typical, resource-gathering RTS (at least, none that I’m familiar with,). If I had to compare it to anything, it’d be something like a real-time board game with abstract mechanics that open up some very different approaches to the game than your typical resource-gathering, military-focused RTS. Up to 8 players can be involved in multiplayer games, and I can just imagine a very Diplomacy-like wheeling-and-dealing, with alliances and backstabbing and all that good fun.

The single-player game itself begins with Nymeria landing in Dorne and then covers many significant events in the course of the history of the Seven Kingdoms, including the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror and the unification of the Seven Kingdoms, the Dance of the Dragons, and Robert’s Rebellion. To learn more about the game, check out the official site.

Following the news listing all five directors for this season, George R.R. Martin has followed up with a post focused on the latest director to join the directorial team, Neil Marshall. Martin is clearly a big fan of his work, calling his The Descent possibly the best horror film o the last twenty years.

But it’s not just to praise him that Martin has commented—it’s to reveal that Marshal will be directing the episode titled, “Blackwater”, written by Martin himself. Suffice it to say, this is a big, pivotal effort, and a director of Marshall’s experience may just be the thing to bring it to the screen.

In an unrelated note, after digging around a little, we’ve learned that director Alan Taylor (who directed the well-received final two episodes of the first season) is still set to direct four episodes. With Marshall taking episode nine, that leaves five episodes for three directors.

The full list of directors for the second season of Game of Thrones has been revealed, thanks to The Hollywood Reporter‘s report on feature director Neil Marshall (perhaps best known for cult horror classic Dog Soldiers) joining the crew. He joins the previously-reported Alan Taylor (who, so far as we know, is still set to direct 4 episodes this season) and David Petrarca.

Also revealed are two other names, which we hadn’t had connected to the show previously: veteran TV director David Nutter (he’s directed episodes of The Sopranos, The Pacific, and Entourage for HBO, as well as Smallville, ER, and Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicle) and first season cinematographer Alik Sakharov. HBO has directly confirmed these to us, so that’s quite solid.

Five directors this season, with Taylor originally slated for four episodes… that doesn’t seem quite right, does it? If I had a guess, Taylor’s committment has been reduced by an episode or two, something that we’re looking into.

The Creative Arts Emmys were handed out last night, and this was a category where many fans hoped Game of Thrones would do very well, with a total of nine nominations. It was not to be, however, as the list of winners go. In categories such as casting, hair styling, costume design, and more, the Emmy voters went with other shows, including HBO sibling Boardwalk Empire and Showtime costume drama The Borgias.

There was one bright spot, however: the show did take one award, namely Main Title Design, for the extraordinary opening title created by Angus Wall and his team! This seemed as sure a thing as it could possibly be, and it seems the voters agreed. Congratulations to Angus Wall and company, to the producers who decided to go with Wall’s vision, and to HBO! You can see the unforgettable title below.

Due to a possible bug or exploit, the A Song of Ice and Fire forum has had all passwords reset. No vital data or private information was lost or compromised, but we wanted to make sure that there was no way someone could access accounts despite this.

To get a new password, just use the ‘I forgot my password’ option and have it send a validation e-mail to you, which on response will provide you with the new password.

If you no longer have access to the e-mail with which you registered on the forum, please contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with your login name and an updated e-mail address.

We should caution that we’re not absolutely sure that the bug/exploit will not be a problem again in the future, but we’re taking steps to make sure that if this happens again, we’ll be able to fix it in a more permanent way.

HBO’s Game of Thrones is gearing up for the Emmy Awards, with the Creative Arts Awards (in which category the show has a number of nominations) being held on the 10th, and the primetime event taking place on the 18th. However, the awards season comprises more than just the Emmys. For example, there’s Spike TV’s popular Scream Awards (which are devoted to genre film, television, and comics).

In fact, the show has done very well for itself with these awards—of the 14 categories in which it was eligible, it’s scored 7 nominations! Selected by a distinguished panel of judges (including Neil Gaiman, Damon Lindelof, Darren Aronofsky, Matthew Vaughn, and more), the show has been nominated in the following categories: Best TV Show, Best Fantasy Actor (Sean Bean), Best Fantay Actress (Lena Heady), Best Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), Breakout Performance Female (Emilia Clarke), Best Ensemble, Most Memorable Mutilation (Head Covered in Molten Gold), and the top category, The Ultimate Scream (which means it’s also up against a number of Hollywood blockbusters).

The award is given out on October 15th, but until then, there’s the matter of voting—yes, you, the fans, vote for these awards from among the selected nominees. Just head on over to Spike’s award page and start voting.

Focus Home Interactive and Cyanide Studio have set the releae date for their forthcoming strategy game, A Game of Thrones: Genesis: September 29th. Mark your calendars! They’ve released a few new images—I’m fond of the shot that shows both Sunspear and Storm’s End, I admit; and unless I’m mistaken, they’ve worked further on the model of the Eyrie to make it more reminiscent of Ted Nasmith’s masterful depiction in the 2011 calendar—to go with the following press release, so be sure to check them out.

A fan-run memorabilia shop in the UK, Fan Favourites, is having a special event with Maisie Williams (Arya), Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle), and David Bradley (Lord Walder Frey) on hand as guests.

Entry to the event is entirely free, although autographs from the actors will incur a small charge. Best of all, the event will help raise money for Our Disappearing Planet, a registered charity helping endangered species and their threatened habitats.

The “Winter is Coming” event will take place on October 1st at 12PM, at their shop in the Brunell Arcade in Swindon. More details here, and you can follow fanfavourites on Twitter for any updates—latest word is that they’re getting the Iron Throne actually used on the show in for photo opportunities!

Pearson Moore, noted essayist of Winterfell Keep and our own Features section, has compiled a terrific collection of his essays concerning the show and the setting, including some exclusive pieces not previously published (including essays whose topics were selected by fans!) Read more about it and its contents below.

These are essays unlike any you have read before.  Pearson Moore digs deep into the heart and soul of Game of Thrones, immersing readers in the world of Westeros, bringing unparalleled enjoyment, complexity, and appreciation to the most fascinating fantasy television program ever brought to television.  After reading Game of Thrones Season One Essays, you’ll want to see the episodes again and again; Moore’s compelling prose and captivating ideas will enrich your viewing experience with a depth of insight available nowhere else.  The Season One Essays include the compelling 7000-word essay on Moore’s favorite character, Bran Stark, as well as the 11,000-word overview of the history of Westeros.  You will find no dry lists of names and dates in this history.  Moore challenges on every page, connecting characters, events, and chronologies with thesis and themes, creating the novel ideas that are the hallmark of Moore’s commentary on television drama.

This first volume of Game of Thrones essays contains twenty-one long (3000- to 11,000-word) articles, 88,000 words total, with chapters on each of the ten episodes, five of the major characters (Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Ned Stark, and Daenerys Targaryen), and several of the important themes.  Two full chapters are given to the analysis of the direwolves scene from Episode One, which Moore considers to the be the central scene of Season One.

You will find no more complete, challenging, and stimulating collection of essays on Game of Thrones.  Tens of thousands of readers worldwide consider Pearson Moore must-read for any episode of LOST, Mad Men, and Game of Thrones.  Now you can read all of his Season One essays in one volume.  The direwolves await!

Chris Pope of the Beyond the Wall podcast is conducting a live-streamed interview with actor Finn Jones, who plays Loras Tyrell. A cool idea, to say the least—tune in here.

For more information about Finn, check out our own interview from back in March.

A fresh clue!

The reference to Elmo makes me think this may be teasing the role ofthe torturer called the Tickler in the novels. Creepy. Looking at the clues, fans have quickly surmised that they’re referring to Anthony Morris, an Irish actor who’s played someone known as Drubber Dockery, someone else called Zippy (hence ‘not a pinhead’, referring to the Zippy the Pinhead comic strip), had a part in an episode of Killinaskully titled “The Horse Whisperer”, and was in a film named Rough Diamond. That seems pretty solid to us, especially given his agency page noting, “Anthony will be seen in season two of HBO’s masterpiece ‘Game of Thrones’.”

After leading fans on a brief but merry chase through the internet regarding the identity of Biter, George R.R. Martin has now confirmed both actors. As previously reported, Andy Beckwith is indeed Rorge… but Biter is, I admit, a bit of a surprise to me just in terms of appearance. Cast in the role is Gerard Jordan, who (among other things) met former President Bill Clinton when he was younger (hence Martin’s remark at the end that it was good that the “big dog”—refererring to Clinton’s nickname—was not bitten).

Scratch that. WICnet pointed out that, as hard as it may be to believe, there’s more than one actor from Ireland named Gerard Jordan. Who’d have thought it? This is the best photo found of the actor in question. He certainly looks a bit tougher than the other actor we noted, and should transform into the hideous Biter without too much difficulty.

French Factor News’s exclusive interview with Cyanide’s Thomas Veauclin, project manager on the Game of Thrones roleplaying game that Cyanide Studio has been developing, has a pretty remarkable revelation: Cyanide has secured the rights to certain HBO Game of Thrones assets and are implementing as much of them as they can. This includes the appearances of actors, recorded dialog, the music, certain designs (such as the Iron Throne), and the like.

Alyssa Rosenberg strikes again—first writing for Think Progress, this time writing in The Atlantic regarding the success of Game of Thrones in comparison to HBO’s big summer show, True Blood. The focus of the article is very much on how the two series have approached the process of adaptation and the impact their choices have had on the more fantastic aspects of the series, and why Rosenberg thinks that Game of Thrones is the better of the two shows because of the choices the executive producers made.

It’s true, as commentators warn (and Rosenberg acknowledges),that the real test for Game of Thrones will be how it adapts the second novel to the second season—True Blood was relatively close to the first Sookie Stackhouse novel, apparently, in its first season as well.

It’s now live—the Podcast of Ice and Fire has its 63rd episode up, and it’s another “Guy’s Night Out”, featuring Amin and Dan of Podcast of Ice and Fire, Alex of Tower of the Hand, and FaBio/Tobias of Winter is Coming... oh, and me.

We discuss A Dance with Dragons, and spend a great deal of time arguing about various topics related to it, so beware spoilers (and off-color language, too)!

Listen to it here.

Via George R.R. Martin’s “Not a Blog” come fresh casting clues, and we can say it’s pretty clear that these deal with the casting of the roles of Rorge and Biter. Glimpsed briefly in Arya’s final appearance in the finale, at the time the two characters were played by extras, but it seems actors have been found to fill the role this second season. One half of the pairs we already suspect refer to actor Andy Beckwith, who has been rumored (thanks to his agency CV) to be in the role of Rorge this past week. We can eliminate some of the clues as dealing with him because of this—Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean), Nark (The Sins), Corporal (Corporal Carter in Dinotopia), Barman (Terry the Barman in Tabloid TV).

This leaves Bully, Dead Man, Potato, and Gash for the other actor. Hrm…

There’s an excellent article in the Onion’s A.V. Club, written by Noel Murray, which sets the ground for a discussion of the television series Beauty and the Beast through the lens of a specific episode, “Ozymandias”... and through looking at that episode’s writer, none other than George R.R. Martin. It covers some very important views GRRM has on writing (“It’s all furniture”) that’s very much well worth looking at.

The show’s romantic side is something that I’d like to emphasize in particular—in all the popular media attention to the darkness, realism, and “grittiness” of the TV series, the fact is that at heart Martin identifies himself as something of a Romantic (as in art movement of the 18th and 19th centuries)  in his approach to writing and how characters express themselves. To a certain degree, the sacrifice pared some of this way as a lot of the more explicitly Romanticist aspects of the narrative lie in the past of the setting, but bits and piece still shine through. There’s no great shock that the epiode reviewed is titled after Shelley’s famed poem.