Westeros

Later than usual—still on vacation!—but the episode guide for “The Queen’s Justice” is now up, including Linda’s video review and book-to-screen analysis. You can see the video below:

While vacationing, Linda and I decided it was time to share some thoughts on the Game of Thrones successors—as GRRM calls them—that HBO and several writers are developing as a potential follow-up to the popular series. In this first video, I lay out some of the details of what we do know about the projects, and some of the parameters that help us understand what the projects aren’t.

With any luck we’ll have the next video—discussing some ideas of stories outside of Westeros that HBO may be considering—up later tonight.

While we’re away up north (north to us, anyways) for our vacation, Linda and I are getting back to doing semi-regular videos about A Song of Ice and Fire, to compliment the Game of Thrones post-episode videos she’s producing for our Episode guides.

The first one—shot on the OnePlus 5 (my first Android phone, after 5 years of my trusty Nokia 920) to make the process more convenient while we’re up here—ends with an unexpected guest star as we discuss.. well, Fire and Blood, which is coming to readers sooner than expected in part because the first volume is practically finished already. Find out how that works below:

Keep an eye on our channel for more videos in the coming days.

Yesterday Linda managed to film her analysis of “Stormborn”, and it was hurriedly edited together before we left for our vacation. Linda posted it while we were on the road, and only now have I recalled to post about it here!

Not only is the episode guide updated with the video—which we’ll include below—but there’s also the book-to-screen analysis, looking at what details fit the novels, which seem possibly related to future events, and which are simply not possible because of the substantial changes from book to screen.

Answering the questions following his mysterious blog post from a few days back, George R.R. Martin has revealed that Fire and Blood is closer to publication than many thought. A book focused on the history of the Targaryens in Westeros, drawn in large part from material originally created for The World of Ice and Fire but which was largely redacted or severely compressed from that book, the amount of material is so sizable that it will appear in two volumes.

Per George:

And for those who wonder about the state of The Winds of Winter...:

Well-timed to the season 7 premiere, Funko has prepared a slew of new toys in their popular Pop! figure line -- as well as some new entries in their Dorbz figures, and even two figures debuting in their Rock Candy range of figurines which are focused almost entirely on female heroines and characters of note (we say almost entirely because somehow Harry and Ron from the Harry Potter series managed their way into the line). You can see some of the new selections in the gallery below:

This is quite big news in relation to the future of Game of Thrones-related projects. While we’ve previously reported on the fact that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are stepping back in their involvement in future “successor” shows—they’ll have executive producer credits but won’t be involved in the day-to-day work and writing—it had been widely assumed they wanted to get away from TV and work on film; in fact, a few years ago they landed a deal to adapt a novel for movies.

So it’s with quite a lot of surprise that we learn that they are diving back into TV after Game of Thrones wraps up, and by diving we mean they’ll be showrunning and writing for this new original series, titled Confederate. According to the press release, posted below, it will begin production immediately following the final season of Game of Thrones.

Here’s the details:

Last year, Linda and I had the great privilege and pleasure of visiting Northern Ireland to look at the Game of Thrones doors scattered throughout the country, all thanks to Tourism Ireland. And this past weekend, we were able to tease that Tourism Ireland had something new up its sleeve to draw attention to Northern Ireland:

Since then, word’s gotten out about the absolutely stunning tapestry—inspired by the famous Bayeux Tapestry created to commemorate every episode of the last six seasons… and with additional panels to come as each new episode of season 7 is released. Fans visiting Belfast will be able to see the tapestry in all its glory at the Ulster Museum from July 22nd.

Here’s the full press release below:

We’re back from Madrid—you can see our talk at Espacio Fundacion Telefonica on Youtube—but while we were there, Linda managed to film her video for our Dragonstone episode guide. The guide also includes a book-to-screen section, using the new format used since the previous season, now that the material is beyond the scope of the novels.

You can see the video below:

Games have been a part of the A Song of Ice and Fire licensing universe for a long time, starting in 2002 with Fantasy Flight Games and their award-winning A Game of Thrones collectible card game, followed by their A Game of Thrones board game. Since then there have been two different RPGs, two different computer games, a tactical tabletop game—and that’s just counting the A Song of Ice and Fire games; Game of Thrones has led to yet another computer game, board games, and more.

After a bit of silence on the A Song of Ice and Fire gaming front, suddenly two exciting projects are advancing towards publication.

Update: We’re pleased to say that we’ve been invited by Casa del Libro to sign at their store at Gran Via 29 prior to the talk. The signing will be from 5pm to 6pm.

Linda and I will be speaking at Espacio Fundación Telefónica, who have kindly invited us with the collaboration of the Spanish publisher of A Song of Ice and Fire and our The World of Ice and Fire, Gigamesh, the organizers of the Celsius 232 convention, and streaming source of Game of Thrones in Spain Movistar+. A few years ago GRRM took part in a similar event.

Fans in Madrid can visit the event page for information regarding the time and details of the event, as well as reserving a free pass. For those who can’t make it, the website will stream the event live.

As always, we’re very much looking forward to visiting Spain. That said, since we’re traveling late Sunday evening, busy in Madrid on Monday, and traveling homeward on Tuesday, Linda’s coverage of the season premiere will likely be delayed and/or be briefer than normal.

HBO has sent out a press release discussing the imminent arrival of Game of Thrones on July 16th, including loglines and titles for the first three episodes. You can read them below, but naturally if you consider episode titles spoilers… well, these are spoilers:

Fans have flocked the world-over to past Game of Thrones exhibitions put together by HBO—we reported on one such exhibition—but there was a bit of a pause this last couple of years… until now, that is, as HBO has just announced that they are mounting a touring exhibition that will travel the world.

No specific dates or locations announced as of yet, but it will kick off in Europe starting Fall 2017. Read the full press release below:

The official 2018 A Song of Ice and Fire Calendar will be hitting shelves in just two weeks. Our understanding is that they’ll be available as well at the Penguin Random House booth at San Diego’s Comic-Con International, as previous calendars have been.

This year’s calendar is illustrated by noted genre artist Eric Velhagen, who recently met George R.R. Martin in Santa Fe as Martin’s Jean Cocteau Cinema is showcasing some of Velhagen’s artwork. Only a couple of pieces have been publicly revealed so far, including the cover above, but make sure to take advantage of Amazon’s Look Inside feature to see a two more piece of art featuring an Other and everyone’s favorite pint-sized assassin.