Westeros

Thanks to IngvarSk68, fans have been turned on to the fact that Icelandic television station Rúv has a long piece  featuring Game of Thrones (roughly 9 minutes long), and it’s a treasure trove of little details. But the one most fans will go crazy for? The fact that Rose Leslie is seen in costume in the role of Ygritte at the 7:10 mark or so (UPDATE: The video has been put back online… but with the closest shots of Leslie removed, which makes us think that HBO didn’t like that being aired at requested RUV edit it out)! For those who’ve not read the novels, the glimpse may be slightly spoliersh, so beware.

The quality is not of the best, alas, but it gives a sense of things, in any case.

... and it’s not just New York City where George R.R. Martin has been causing a stir. The Goodreads Choice Awards wrapped up recently… and the result are already in!

A Dance with Dragons won the Best Fantasy category, narrowly beating out Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus—just 11 votes separated them! And, look at that—ADwD also managed to place as #3 in the Favorite Novel category as well.

Tip of the hat to author Mark Lawrence, writer of Prince of Thorns, for pointing out that the results were in at the A Song of Ice and Fire Forum. His own novel was #10 in the Best Fantasy category, a good showing from a first-time novelist.

According to this article from the New York Post titled, “The Pen is as Mighty as the Sword”—and, anecdotally speaking, from various tweets I’ve seen over the last months—it seems that Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire mania has had a grip on New York City of late.

Amazon.co.uk has provided the next piece of the puzzle in regards to the full details of HBO’s DVD and Blu-Ray plans. Their listing for the DVD and BluRay provides a break down of content, including the full list of participants in the commentaries. “Audition tapes” are clearly noted, something not made clear with previous information. The producers had mentioned plans for having them in, so it’s good to see they’ve made it in.

Below you’ll find the details, both for DVD and BluRay, due March 6 in the U.S. We’ve highlighted those features which are BluRay exclusives.

Focus Home Interactive will publish in Europe Game of Thrones, the RPG based on the bestseller series of novels by George R.R. Martin, which has recently been adapted into a TV series by HBO®.

Game of Thrones is a big role playing game based on the famous series of novels by George R.R. Martin, which has already sold over 15 millions unit around the world, and which HBO has recently adapted into a critically-praised TV series. This is the most ambitious project of Cyanide Studio. Developed on Unreal Engine 3 and written under the supervision of George R.R. Martin, “Game of Thrones” will allow fans of the series, and more generally adepts of role-playing games, to live an exceptional adventure in one of the most finely-worked universe from the medieval fantasy literature.

The HBO Store has just sent the word that there’s a special, 20% off deal for today only, if you input the code HBOGOT20 at check-out. For those who complained about the store offering the DVDand Blu Ray at the store when we learned that the store was including an exclusive bonus disc with the preorders, that should make the option much more interesting.

The DVD and BluRay sets of Game of Thrones Season 1 will become available on March 6th. For more Game of Thrones items at the store, visit the store directly or try our own store portal.

UPDATED: See the video of the interview, for that extra bit of Charles Dance.

An interview with Charles Dance, who plays Lannister patriarch Lord Tywin, provides the first reference we’ve seen to when the prospective season 3 will air, as well as a spoiler for those who’ve not read the novels.

Though largely focused on his appearance in SyFy’s miniseries event, Neverland, it does turn to Game of Thrones where he says the following (minus the spoiler):

There’s a new post from Cat Taylor at Making Game of Thrones. The content of it has to do with the practical clothing choices one must make when working on location—as she presently is, in chilly Iceland—but what piques our interest is the image accompanying it.

And it’s at Making Game of Thrones, HBO’s official production site. It’s brief, but it features Maisie Williams discussing her “new look” as Arya Stark for season 2 of the series. Find it embedded below:

George R.R. Martin is among many other artists and authors besides have made contributions to Magick 4 Terri, a fundraiser to benefit artist, editor, and writer Terri Windling who’s hit a rough patch for herself and her family.

Windling has been a key player in pushing forward the writing of mythic fiction and taking inspiration from fairy tales. The Fairy Tale series of novels which she originated have seen some fantastic novels, such as Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, Tanith Lee’s White as Snow, and Steve Brust’s The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, while the many collections she’s co-edited with Ellen Datlow have been a showcase for many great stories both in the areas of mythic fiction and general fantasy and horror. Her role in founding Endicott Studio, which includes a diverse set of members from artists Thomas Canty, Alan Lee, and Charles Vess to writers Neil Gaiman, Jane Yolen, and Ellen Kushner, has helped foster the mythic arts in a wide range of mediums.

So far, it looks like GRRM has contributed three items to the auction, signed copies of Starlady/Fast-Friend, Fevre Dream #1, and Nightflyers. Possibly others will be added later. Items from Neil Gaiman will soon be added, to join the many amazing bits of art, rare books, crafts, manuscripts, tuckerizations, dedications, personalizations, and more.

It is a very good cause, and there’s bound to be something of interest for everyone, so please visit the Magick 4 Terri site.

With the wealth of new information on the March 6th release of the DVD and Blu-Ray Season 1 sets of Game of Thrones, including the fact that the HBO Store is offering an exclusive companion disc for those who order the DVDs or Blu-Rays via their store (which is presently offering $10 off a $100 order if you use GOTAFF20 at checkout).

And now… there’s more. Or at least, the promise of more.

Valyrian Steel, official producers of replica weapons inspired by George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, have had a few updates of late that are worth noting.

Thanks to a tip, we’ve found this article by Freya Gígja Gunnarsson of the Icelandic paper, Fréttablaðið, in which she reports on a visit to the set near Svínafell glacier where they were able to watch Kit Harington and talk to some of the production crew. And as a treat, the article gives us our first look at Jon Snow‘s costume for Season 2, and a separate video report with more shots of Harington, and snippets from Benioff & Weiss. The report starts at the 1 minute mark.

Hard on the heels of EW’s exclusive details from the DVD and Bluray sets, the HBO Store has come out swinging with an exclusive to bring pre-orders straight to them.

According to the official Game of Thrones Twitter and Facebook accounts, pre-orders at the HBO store for the DVD and BluRay season 1 sets will come with an HBO Store-exclusive additional disc, “Creating the World of Westeros”, which should provide more behind-the-scenes looks at the production’s bringing the world of A Song of Ice and Fire to life.

Alas, the HBO Store is US-only, and the HBO UK store doesn’t even list the DVDs and BluRays yet. You can of course preorders for the DVDand Blu-Ray sets at Amazon.com and others retailers, but they won’t include the exclusive disc.

Decisions, decisions….

Now that word’s been going around regarding the DVD and Blu-Ray set, EW’s come in with some exclusive details, images, and even a video.

The biggest news is that the prospective release date is a couple of weeks earlier than previously speculated: March 6th. At a guess, this more strongly supports the idea that the premiere of the 2nd season is in the first half of April (Luck wraps its 9-episode season on March 25th, so theoretically Game of Thrones could air as early as April 1st). Best to mark that calendar (and get those pre-orders in, as we suspect the show will be #1 with a bullet at Amazon and other retailers, and who knows if supply will meet demand in the initial rush). Besides that, James Hibberd provides some excellent looks at original art and storyboards for the production.