Westeros
The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain
News
Given the momentous final season (and the fact that Linda is booked up with a bunch of interviews the morning after the show airs), we’ve decided to do something new: a livestreamed commentary by Linda on our Youtube channel shortly after the episode airs (she thinks she can get going about 15 minutes after the episode airs.
We’ve tested out the tech and think we’ve the kinks worked out. It’ll be pretty bare bones to start with, but if it’s a success we’ll see about sprucing it up. One thing that we’ve brought out of retirement is our Sony camcorder, which we used for many of our early videos as well as our segments on Sky Atlantic’s Thronecast—turns out it outputs an excellent image for streaming compared to our DSLR!
Linda’ll post the stream here when it goes live, but if you want to hear about it as soon as possible, be sure to subscribe and request notifications over at Youtube.
With the final season of Game of Thrones just around the corner, Tourism Ireland is again teasing what has become a yearly tradition as they invite fans the world over to think of Northern Ireland as the “Game of Thrones Territory”. Carved doors scattered among historic pubs, limited edition stamps, an enormous pictorial tapestry—each of them has been a spectacular way to promote tourism for those who are interested in visting the land where the series has been based from the very start. This new campaign seems to be no less interesting, as this teaser video suggests:
The video may seem a bit mysterious to start with, but we think by the end what they’re hinting at is clear as glass.
(Disclosure: Linda and I have known Raya Golden since she she gave us a ride to and from the Chateau Marmont for a party during the 2006 Worldcon in Anaheim. Surviving the inevitable L.A. traffic jam and wondering who that starlet who passed us at the entrance was was a bonding experience never to be forgotten.)
Starport, a massive 272 page graphic novel, is Raya Golden‘s adaptation of George R.R. Martin‘s unproduced pilot script of the same name. Featuring the travails of Chicago’s police force and the many different alien species who come to visit its starport (one of three built on Earth by the league known as the Harmony of Worlds). Martin himself pitched it to studios as “Hill Street Blues meets aliens”, while Golden has suggested more contemporary pairings—“Brooklyn 99 meets Babylon 5... the cast of NYPD Blue on acid, playing laser tag with Alf,” and those are all pretty apt comparisons for the tone of this adaptation. Humor comes first, but as with all of Martin’s work there’s other elements—drama, romance, and even a wee bit of horror.
George R.R. Martin • Other Books and Projects • Licensed Products | Comments:
The A World of Ice and Fire app (iTunes, Google Play), the only official app companion to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, has received a complete refresh providing a snappier user interface, new maps from The Lands of Ice and Fire, and additional as well as updated entries. Behind the scenes, the app also has had some changes to how data is stored which will make it much easier and quicker for future updates to take place.
Those who already own the app can just update it via the appropriate store, and once you’ve opened it you’ll get the option to restore any of the packs you’ve acquired to extend the information in the app.
Linda and I have worked on this ever since its inception—when it started from the seed of the 70,000 words of “Who’s Who” material we had written for the 50,000 word-contracted The World of Ice and Fire (oops!)—and think Random House has done fine work integrating dynamic map markers and character portraits to give it that much more appeal and usefulness.
Ahead of the Game of Thrones final season, Random House Audio has for the first time released A Game of Thrones—Juego de tronos—as a Spanish-language audio book for the Latin American market. The rest of the series, as well as Fire and Blood (Fuego y sangre) will be released from now to September 2019.
Juego de tronos has released today, and is available at a number of vendors—most notably Audible.com, which gives new members two free audio books when they sign up for a membership.
You can read the press release below, which reveals that all the books will be read by famous Mexican voice actor Víctor Manuel Espinoza, the voice of Homer Simpson for millions of Latin Americans:
Fans of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire will now be able to hear the audiobooks in a new language: Spanish. Penguin Random House Audio will release Spanish-language audiobooks of the bestselling series beginning this spring, just as the final season of the hit TV series premieres.
Actor Víctor Manuel Espinoza, also known as the voice of Homer Simpson in Latin America, will narrate the complete series in Spanish, totaling more than 200 hours, starting with Juego de tronos, on sale April 9.
Espinoza said, “Recording the A Song of Ice and Fire audiobooks has been a great challenge for me. Interpreting each character and representing so many personalities through my voice has been the most complex and most satisfying part of the process.”
Audiobooks are the fastest-growing area of book publishing, a trend driven in large part by the increased availability of titles on audio. Penguin Random House Audio is expanding its Spanish-language audiobook production, publishing Dan Brown’s Origen read by Germán Gijón and Lin Manuel Miranda’s ¡Buen día, buenos noches!, read by his father, Luis A. Miranda, Jr.
George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire, which began in 1996 with A Game of Thrones and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, selling over 85 million copies worldwide in 47 languages.
The Hollywood Reporter has published an interview with George R.R. Martin from the red carpet of the Game of Thrones premiere.
Musing on how time has flown since the series started, he also briefly has time to talk about the forthcoming pilot for a successor show, which GRRM has dubbed “The Long Night” despite HBO’s insisting that that’s not the official title.
Per the interview:
“The logline for the pilot tells us, “it’s not the story we think we know.” Years ago, you released The World of Ice and Fire, which covers a lot of history of Westeros and beyond. If we were to truly data-mine the book, would we have a clue about what you have up your sleeve for the pilot?
“(Pauses.) You might find a sentence or two in The World of Ice and Fire. You certainly won’t find 12 pages. A lot of this is based on that line or two, and Jane then took it and came up with something.”
The Folio Society, famous for its bibliophile-oriented hardcovers with beautiful binding and interior illustrations, revealed last month that they were working on a new edition of A Game of Thrones with this tweet:
#WinterIsComing to Folio.
— The Folio Society (@foliosociety) March 21, 2019
Be the first to know more: https://t.co/gcTQUKiPJh pic.twitter.com/fgviYZyPoP
Today, they’ve now released a sneak peek at four of the eight chapter headers their as-yet-unnamed artist has created. Each represents a specific character, and draws from the heraldry of their families.
From the preview e-mail they sent out:
No release date has been announced as of yet, but the Folio Society has set up a dedicated page where there’ll be new information, as well as a way to sign up for e-mailed updates.
The pop culture mash-ups of Game of Thrones continue, with HBO now collaborating with hamburger chain Shake Shack to produce two show-themed menu items, the Dragonglass shake and the Dracarys burger. There’s a twist, however: you can only order them by speaking Valyrian!
Fortunately, Shake Shack has helpfully provided a guide to placing an order with pronunciation guidance and all. Question is, will the employees at the till (or the customers behind you) have the patience to let you stumble through it all?
Note that this is only at a sole location in NYC, and for a limited time only as noted by the restaurant:
Starting today, you can order a Dragonglass Shake and the Dracarys Burger exclusively at the Madison Square Park Shake Shack in the Flatiron District. The Dragonglass Shake will be available through 5/19, while the Dracarys Burger will be available through 4/21, while supplies last.
Back in September, it was revealed that a Game of Thrones Legacy project was in an explortary phase to set up a permanent exhibition at the Linen Mill Studios. That exploratory phase is done, and the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is announced for a Spring 2020 opening. The plans sound ambitious, as the images and the press release below reveal!
The Game of Thrones Studio Tour, comprising the breathtaking imagery, captivating sets, original props and costumes, and other behind-the-scenes items from the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, will drop fans in the very heart of the Seven Kingdoms. Guests will be treated to an up-close and personal look at a wide selection of items pulled straight from the screen and have the opportunity to walk through authentic set pieces from some of the show’s most iconic scenes. In collaboration with HBO Licensing & Retail, Linen Mill Studios are designing and building the new 110,000-square-foot interactive experience and will open its gates for visitors in Spring 2020. It is the first in a series of Game of Thrones Legacy projects announced by HBO last year.
When it rains, it pours. Last night, HBO has revealed not one but two promos for the final season of Game of Thrones. The first is titled “Together”, and the second is titled “Survival”. They both feature glimpses of new scenes as well as dialog:
And just after we posted that, a new teaser as well, titled “Aftermath”:
Two weeks left for the premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones, and another behind the scenes video has appeared on HBO’s official Youtube channel of the series. This time, the focus is on the often-spectacular visual effects of the series:
The first episode premieres April 14th.
The incredible proliferation of collaborations with famous brands for the final season of Game of Thrones is breathtaking, quite unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Everything from high-end men’s fashion to limited edition sneakers to cookies, and much, much more. Now a famous soft drink joins the party:
Called “A Can with No Name”, this branding takes its inspiration from Arya Stark and the Faceless Men of Braavos. As the video shows, initially the can looks almost pure white… but once chilled, Arya’s list of names appears.
These cans won’t be available just anywhere, however. Read below for how to get a hold of one:
HBO has just announced that on May 26th—the week after the airing of the final episode of Game of Thrones—a two hour documentary by filmmaker Jeanie Finaly covering the filming of the final season.
You can read the press release below:
For a year, acclaimed British filmmaker Jeanie Finlay was embedded on the set of the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones,” chronicling the creation of the show’s most ambitious and complicated season.
Debuting SUNDAY, MAY 26 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), one week after the series finale, GAME OF THRONES: THE LAST WATCH delves deep into the mud and blood to reveal the tears and triumphs involved in the challenge of bringing the fantasy world of Westeros to life in the very real studios, fields and car-parks of Northern Ireland.
Another week, another look behind the scenes of Game of Thrones. This time, camera operate Sean Savage discusses his time behind the camera for all eight seasons of the show:
HBO has released the official poster for the final season of Game of Thrones:
Featuring a design mashing up the Iron Throne with Drogon’s glowing eyes looks almost like the dragon’s wearing a crown, doesn’t it?