The BwB is collecting donations to buy a gift for GRRM, as well as something for Parris, to congratulate him on the completion of A Feast for Crows. If you’d like to contribute, see this thread on the forum.
GRRM has passed on a list of people who haven’t fully signed up for their limited edition of Clash of Kings after buying the Game of Thrones edition. If any of these people want to buy ACoK and retain the same number/letter as for their AGoT edition, they need to get in touch with Meisha Merlin to sign up for a copy, otherwise their number/letter will be made available for others to purchase.
A couple of reports from the Book Expo in New York have been added to the So Spake Martin section. They include information from Parris, GRRM’s SO, on publication dates and writing plans.
At the moment, Bantam is saying November 8th for the US edition, according to GRRM. This is not entirely set in stone, however. Harper Collins has yet to set a date for the UK edition, but it will probably be announced in the next 2-4 weeks.
The newest addition to Westeros, All Sorts of Weird Stuff, has now been officially launched. Here you will find information about GRRM and A Song of Ice and Fire that isn’t theme- or story-related. In particular, we will attempt to bring fans all news of relevance to the series or any of Mr. Martin’s other writings. We will also collect our reviews of GRRM’s books and stories in this section, and provide information about the various licenses related to his works, such as the CCG, the RPG and the miniatures.
At the moment, the News section is the only one that has been completed, but over the next weeks we hope to have time to add content to some of the other sections too.
According to a report from the Book Expo in New York, GRRM has said that the US publication date for A Feast for Crows will be November 8th 2005. The full report will soon be added to the So Spake Martin collection.
Due to the confusion regarding the release date for AFfC, here’s the official word:
No, the book is not coming out in July, despite what any book store or friend of a friend might tell you. Even Random House’s website is inaccurate at present.
The book isn’t coming out in August, either.
GRRM has said that he thinks late September or October are probable, as those are the target dates which his publishers (both the US and the UK) are working towards. This isn’t absolutely fixed in stone, however, from anything we’ve been told.
When an official, solid release date is set, we’ll be informed. Keep an eye on GRRM’s official website, the board, and/or our own news page.
For those of you who were holding out for the news to come straight from the horse’s mouth, GRRM’s official site has now been updated with the news of the completition of A Feast for Crows and an explanation for why some characters won’t be appearing until A Dance with Dragons.
Straight from ConQuest 36:
"George told us a long tale. His publishers told him the mostest it could be was 1600 manuscript pages. He passed that and a decision was made that it would have to be split in two. He thought about that and rejected it and proposed an alternative.
AFFC will be the size of AGoT. There will be no Daenerys chapters. There will be none of the chapters up North. The chapters in the South are done and in the hands of the publishers - George expects to announce a specific fall publication date. That means he can spend a little more time cleaning up the events in the North and present a coherent tale with a beginning and an end.
He expects some of his fans to be upset when their favorite characters don’t appear."
This has been confirmed by Parris, Martin’s SO, and these reports have also been added to the So Spake Martin collection.
So, those of you who haven’t yet pre-ordered your copy (or copies), why not do so at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk? Apparently they are supposed to come out more or less at the same time this time around, although the UK may be some weeks ahead.
Once again, we have changed the software we use for managing our news, but we’re hopeful that Expression Engine will be something that we will stick with for a very long while. We’re also hoping that it will allow us to introduce some new features to the site, to the benefit of us as well as our visitors.
If you are a regular visitor to Westeros, you will notice that the news & updates are now being handled differently. From now on, the Westeros: Updates journal (this one, that is) will contain only updates relating to the site itself, divided up into categories that correspond to the sections of the site. Any news relating to George R.R. Martin or A Song of Ice and Fire will be found in the All Sorts of Weird Stuff: News journal, found within the new section that we are in the process of launching. We have also moved announcements dealing with game news (as opposed to news about the game’s website) to the Blood of Dragons: Announcements journal.
However, for those who prefer to have all the news in one place, we have also put up a Westeros: Digest journal, complete with matching RSS feeds, that incorporates all the news from the aforementioned journals. As always, we’re very interested in hearing about any problems you may be experiencing as a result of these changes. If, for example, you have linked to the old news & updates archives, or made use of the old RSS feeds, you will want to make sure to update these links as those pages will be removed shortly.
As previously rumoured, Subterranean Press has purchased the rights to continue publishing the limited A Song of Ice and Fire editions. An announcement regarding this can be found on their website.
A report from To Be Continued IV in Chicago were GRRM is the Guest of Honour has been added to the So Spake Martin section, and more will likely follow in a day or two.
According to GRRM he has about 100 manuscript pages left to write of AFfC, and he expects that the publishers will rush the book out as quickly as possible once its all handed in. He also noted that he has some chapters done of the next book, and half of the next Dunk & Egg story.
This year’s Brotherhood Without Banners t-shirt is now available for pre-ordering. Pre-orders receive a discount of $5.
A survey has been added to the board on behalf of Testors, the company that will be producing the A Song of Ice and Fire miniatures and wargame. For a chance to win nice prices, head over there to fill it out.
Guardians of Order have published the third issue of their newsletter, and it includes information on an interesting offer. From now on, all who pre-order certain books (such as the A Game of Thrones Deluxe Limited Edition) from them will also receive a PDF of the same title.
They have also have released the 4th preview from the A Game of Thrones RPG.