Westeros

The Dangerous Women anthology (US, UK) edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois and containing (among other things) George’s “The Princess and the Queen”, has just been announced as the winning anthology at this year’s World Fantasy Awards. The awards are determined by a jury, drawing from a selection of nominees drawn in part from the jury’s own selections for consideration and by nomination from attendees. With a strong field, including entries by perennial favorites Ellen Datlow (recipient of a Lifetime Achievent Award at the convention) and Terri Windling, Jonathan Strahan, and more, this is a particularly noteworthy win for the anthology.

Many hearty congratulations to George and Gardner, as well as to all the contributors to the anthology!

It’s been a hectic three days since the release of The World of Ice and Fire, and Linda and I are only just now getting a chance to catch our breaths. Below, we’re going to give a run down of what we—and George—have been up to in terms of appearances, interviews, and more that have been released surrounding the book.

First, the morning on the 28th opened for Linda and I with the realization that the book was #1 on Amazon.com—that was pretty amazing in and of itself. But we couldn’t sit and marvel at it because that was the morning of our marriage, as well. For those who knew about it, many thanks for your felicitations and support! We’ve been engaged *ahem*sixteen*ahem* years and for various reasons we never quite pulled the trigger on it… so lets just say we’re glad it’s done, once and for all.

No honeymoon for us, however: later that day we had our very first signing of the book, at Gothenburg’s own SF Bokhandlen. A good time was had, as we answered questions and chatted with fans. We signed a few additional copies that should be on the shelves, for anyone looking for a copy with our scrawls in it. Linda will be appearing tomorrow at Comic Con Gameex outside of Stockholm tomorrow to sign more books at SF Bokhandlen’s booth, between 2PM and 4PM.

We’ve done various interviews as well: a two part Reddit AMA (part 1, part 2) was the first big thing we did, although it was just prior to the release of the book so stays more general. A post-release interview followed shortly after, however, at the Podcast of Ice and Fire where we discuss certain new details offered up in the book with host Amin Javadi. We’ve been guests on the podcast several times before, and it’s always been great fun.

More interviews are forthcoming, but in the interim, there’s of course all the things George R.R. Martin has been up to in the run up and following the release. George appeared at Brown University with Tor publisher Tom Doherty to recieve the Harris Literary Award; there they talked about a variety of things, from Robert Jordan to The World of Ice and Fire, the future of publishing, and more. Then George appeared at the 92Y where he spoke at length about the book, followed by an appearance two days later on Late Night with Seth Meyers (where Meyers was knighted in the fine tradition of the Brotherhood without Banners fan group).

With our editor Anne Groell, George discussed the world book further for a promotional video, as he did for HarperCollins Voyager. Most recently, George appeared at the WSJ Cafe for a private appearance where interviewer Christopher Farley asked a number of very interesting questions about George’s career. George notes at his Livejournal that more interviews are to come, and we’ll be sure to share them at the So Spake Martin collection when they’re published.

It’s been going around the gaming press that a community manager at Telltale Games has revealed that they intend to have the officially-licensed Game of Thrones adventure game titled Iron from Ice out by the end of the year. A little less than a year ago, Telltale’s acquisition of the license from HBO became big news among gamers, as Telltale’s recent adventure games—their Walking Dead game in particular—have been popularly and critically acclaimed for their storytelling and characters.

Last month, Telltale released a very short teaser hinting at a North-based storyline, mentioning some of the minor houses in the wolfswood:

The 92Y, which will be hosting George R.R. Martin in a public discussion on October 26 at 8PM EST, is offering a livestream of the event over at its Tumblr page. Journalist Laura Miller, who has previously profiled George, will be joining him on stage and interviewing him as he discusses his work on A Song of Ice and Fire, the forthcoming The World of Ice and Fire that hits shelves on Tuesday (Pre-order: Amazon US, Amazon UK).

Speaking of the 28th, George will also be appearing on the Seth Myers show that day (or at least, he’ll be filming his appearance, we’re not sure if it means it’ll air that same day or not).

The A World of Ice and Fire app (as it’s called on iTunes; it’s called the A Game of Thrones Guide on Android, although we’re uncertain if the update has reached that platform yet) has been updated with an excerpt from the forthcoming The World of Ice and Fire (Pre-order: Amazon US Amazon UK). The excerpt is drawn from the section of the book devoted to the ancient history of the Vale up to the point in which the conflict between the Andals and the First Men culminated in the Battle of Seven Stars, where the last First Man king fell and the Arryns came to rule the Kingdom of Mountain and Vale.

The app is free to download, and with the latest update includes all the offiically released excerpts from The Winds of Winter, as well as the World of Ice and Fire excerpt.

Here’s a pleasant surprise: the Hollywood Reporter reveals that Adewal Akinnuoye-Agbaje (known to fans of television from his roles as Adebisi on Oz and Mr. Eko on Lost) has joined the cast of Game of Thrones. The role? It’s described as such:

We’re guessing he has something to do with Meereen. Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s roles as Adebisi and Eko were very memorable, and hopefully this role will give him some room to leave a mark with his presence.

Day by day, the release of The World of Ice and Fire (Pre-order: Amazon US Amazon UK) draws nearer. It’s currently hit #14 on Amazon’s Top 100 Books, which is just sort of mind-boggling for us.

To help promote the release of the novel in the UK, Harper Voyager sat down with George back in August for a brief promotional video discussing his thoughts on the importance of setting in a fantasy, the interest fans have in learning about the world, and our collaboration with him on the book:

The book hits shelves in the US and UK (and, I’m told, Italy and Germany; possibly some other countries as well) on October 28th.

Ahead of the publication of The World of Ice and Fire (Pre-order: Amazon US Amazon UK) in the US, UK, and (apparently) Italy on October 28th, our UK publisher HarperCollins Voyager has gone to its twitter feed to share #FactsOfIceAndFire. These are small details culled from the world book—some of them familiar to readers of the novels, and some of them brand new. Here’s a small sampling:

• “Maegor the Cruel killed his wife Tyanna, cut out her heart w/ Blackfyre and threw it to the dogs!”
• “Queen Rhaenyra possessed 15 dragons, including one named The Cannibal”
• “Ellyn Reyne tried to seduce Tytos Lannister but was so intimidated, he couldn’t perform & fled”>

For more in the coming days, follow @HarperVoyagerUK on Twitter!

Just 29 days to go before the publication of The World of Ice and Fire (Pre-order: Amazon US, Amazon UK), and we admit, we’re getting excited as well by the flurry of activity that’ll follow on the forum and elsewhere concerning all the new setting information (and a few little details relevant to various mysteries in A Song of Ice and Fire).

Contrary to what Amazon UK says at the moment, by the by, it will be out on October 28th in the UK—HarperCollins Voyager is sorting that error out with Amazon. We can say that a number of publishers around the world will be bringing out translated editions, including our native Sweden, as well as Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Russia, and more—but those will be released at various points in time as they complete their translations and print their editions. In total, a dozen countries will be publishing it so far, with negotiations ongoing in a number of others.









Not really sure what The World of Ice and Fire is? Earlier this year, Linda and I did a video about it that can help with that:

Back in March, Linda and I were invited to the grand opening of the Power Games (Maktspel) exhibit in Stockholm’s Royal Armory, featuring a replica of the Iron Throne as well as numerous costumes from Game of Thrones alongside with historical costumes from Sweden’s royal history as well as costumes from the award-winning Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It was a fine occasion, and the quality of the exhibit itself was exceptional.

Now, we’ve been invited back on October 4th for a special event built around the exhibit. Beginning at 11AM, with a chance to have a photo taken by a professional photographer as attendees sit on the Iron Throne, the event will include guided tours of the exhibit, as well as a couple of seminars which begin at 3:00PM. One will focus on on the burgeoning popularity of fantasy, featuring the founder of Sweden’s excellent SF Bokhandlen SF/F bookstore… and the other will be all about The World of Ice and Fire (Pre-order:US, UK), Westeros.org, and history in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, featuring Linda andme as well as genre experts from SF Bokhandlen.

Tickets for the seminars can be booked by mailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or calling 08-402 30 30 (Monday-Friday between 9-12). The seminar ticket cost is 100 kr, including entry to the museum, and our panel, at least, will be in English.

Hope to see some fellow A Song of Ice and Fire fans there!

Courtesy of HBO, we have an exclusive excerpt from Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones: Seasons 3 and 4, written by Cat Taylor, assistant and official “keeper of scrolls” for Game of Thrones, as well as the lead writer on HBO’s Making Game of Thrones production blog. The first book in the series, covering the first two seasons, was written by writer and co-producer Bryan Cogman, and was a fantastic look behind the scenes, filled with photographs, interviews, VFX renderings, and concept art that showed the massive scale and complexity of the production, as well as the amount of talent involved in making it the visual splendor that it is.

This excerpt suggests that the second volume in the series will do the same, as it gives us an inside look at the appearance of the giants and the mammoths in “The Watchers on the Wall”:

Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones—or of Wild Cards, Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag, Tuf Voyaging, The Dying of the Light, Beauty and the Beast, or dozens of short stories, novellettes, and novellas—should feel free to lift a glass to celebrate George R.R. Martin’s 66th birthday.  May there be many more birthdays to come!

(Also on this day in history: the aftermath of the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years War, which has a bit of influence on the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Curious coincidence!)

Deutsche Welle—a German broadcaster that was among the first to have a web presence way back in 1994—celebrates the 20th anniversary of that presence by doing something… rather unique. See their press release below to learn just what they’re up to:

Thanks to our friends over at Dark Horse—purveyors of fine comics and excellent collectibles—we’re happy to present a chance for two fans to win one of two Dark Horse Deluxe Game of Thrones figures. This contest is open world-wide—if a postal service can reach you, you can enter (yes, even if you’re in Antarctica!)

The latest entries in the deluxe figure series from Dark Horse, the Robb Stark and Arya Stark figures are to-scale renditions of the two characters. Though not posable, they’re larger in size than your typical action figures, and feature quite a lot of detail.

To enter, just post in our comments thread below—sorry, Facebook required—by naming which of the two Stark siblings is your favorite, and why. We’ll select two winners somewhere around the middle of next week, before I head off to Titancon.

For those who follow us here at Westeros.org—whether it’s at our own site, or on Sky’s Thronecast—you may be interested to know that Elio (that would be me) will be a guest at this year’s Titancon in Belfast, which takes place next week at the Wellington Park Hotel. Other guests of the convention include Game of Thrones actors Kerry Ingram, Aimee Richardson, and Eugene Simon.

There’ll be panel discussions, book readings, and more. In my case, I’ll be reading short excerpts from the upcoming The World of Ice and Fire (Pre-order: Amazon US, Amazon UK), taking part in a couple of Game of Thrones panel, and will discuss the making of The World of Ice and Fire on stage with Irish writer Peadar Ó GuilÃ%ADn.

Should be fun!