Westeros

Over at “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin shares the news that his science fix up novel, Tuf Voyaging, has now been reissued by Bantam Spectra. A fix up is a novel that’s constructed from a number of short stories, and in this case these stories tell the tale of Haviland Tuf—a rather eccentric merchant in the far future (in the setting Martin has dubbed the Thousand Worlds) who becomes commander of the most powerful, dangerous ship in the galaxy. They’re alternately amusing and scary, and the final part always gives me chills.

In his post and in comments, Martin ends up responding to questions regarding his recent overall deal with HBO, which will see him pitching and potentially writing and producing new series’ for HBO. Here’s what he had to say about some of the possibilities kicked around (we’ve bolded text for key points):

Back in October, we stumbled across the fact that young actor Dean-Charles Chapman had a role in season 3 of Game of Thrones, as revealed by his talent agency. We did some digging, got some fairly solid leads as to who he might be playing, and we dutifully asked for confirmation. We were informed that that wasn’t possible, so we let it lie and, I admit, rather forgot about it. Since his casting has been more widely publicized, we’ll share what we learned back then:

One of the things Game of Thrones has done best is bring the epic scale of the world and the magical nature of some of its inhabitants to life with special effects, and it looks like the Visual Effects Society has recognized it, giving the show four awards at the 11th Annual VES Awards, more than any other television program.

It won four awards in the Broadcast category, including Best Visual Effects for their work in the episode “Valar Morghulis”, Outstanding Animated Character for the dragon training sequence, Outstanding Created Environment for Pyke, and Outstanding Compositing for the army of wights at the end of “Valar Morghulis”.

Many congratulations to the VFX studio, Pixomondo, who produced the vast majority of the special effects in season 2.

This is pretty cool: George R.R. Martin has signed an overall deal with HBO, according to Deadline’s Neelie Andreeva.

What does that mean? Per the article:

The official Game of Thrones Youtube channel has posted up a couple of clips from the upcoming season 2 collection (Pre-order: US Bluray, US DVD, UK Bluray, UK DVD), one of which I’m sure is new and features Rose Leslie as Ygritte giving a wildling’s perspective on the history of the Night’s Watch:

The other is another glimpse of the “Inner Circle” roundtable of actors and producers, featuring Lena Headey discussing her work with Peter Dinklage; think we’ve seen the last part before, and maybe all of it:

A new entry at the official Making Game of Thrones production blog provides some new information regarding filming in Iceland (which has been a topic featured both in a video blog and a new Bluray excerpt), as it reveals a bit about filming a scene among the wildling encampment where Jon is taken to meet actor Ian Whyte, who played Ser Gregor this past season (and a White Walker in both of the previous seasons):

What do we think this means?

This is a clever way to promote the forthcoming release of the Game of Thrones second season complete collection being released in the US on February 19th (Pre-order: US Bluray, US DVD, UK Bluray, UK DVD): My Watch Begins, a website where fans can record their taking of the oath of the Night’s Watch, led by Jon Snow himself. Very fun, especially as you can mix in other voices with your own, creating a legion of men (and women!) taking the black. It also looks like some special event is being planned in New York City on the 18th if you click the #taketheblack hash tag link at the bottom of the site. A mass oath-taking in Central Park, maybe?

UPDATE: Here’s a promotional video tied-in to the new online experience that Campfire have made:

And speaking of Jon Snow, here’s another preview of the extras that are coming on the Blu-ray set (which we’re hoping to get a review copy of in the next couple days—stay tuned!), courtesy of MTV, where Kit Harington discusses just how cold it can get in Iceland:

A great new video has shown up on the official Game of Thrones Youtube channel, which features the filming in Iceland… and our very first look at Mackenzie Crook as Orell:

Courtesy of HBO, here’s one of our very favorite things that come from the Season 2 Blurays (Preorder: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk): the extras featuring the History of Westeros. Last season’s were amazing, but we’re told that this set is going to be even better, with more animation and that wonderful narration by the actors delivering these bits of knowledge as their characters. Here’s Wisdom Hallyne, the pyromancer, telling us all about his order and wildfire:

Have to love Roy Dotrice.

The Bluray hits retailers on February 19th in the U.S., early March in the U.K. and Europe.

This, as they say, is the motherload: many, many stills of characters (both old and new) from the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, set to air on March 31st.

Some terrific images of Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall, the red priest Thoros of Myr, the siblings Meera and Jojen Reed… and some hints as to which episodes many of these characters appearing in.

So, hurry along and check out our gallery and share your thoughts! We may go back and provide further comments to the images when we have a chance.

And now a surprise, as George R.R. Martin trots out Froggie the Gremlin for a most unexpected casting clue. For those who’ve missed them previously, for prior seasons Martin has occasionally revealed actors who’ve been cast in roles by the use of clues. Inevitably, he’d use his Froggy the Gremlin avatar to signal when it was a clue.

This one threw me, since it’s rather early to be casting season 4 when the 5th season isn’t even greenlit. But of course, others who are smarter (or at least in earlier timezones) resolved the clue quite quickly: “It’s the Pits!” refers to a specific pit that will be appearing this season, and the “son of Homer” is, of course, Bart Simpson.

Here’s a rare sight: an interview with actor Conleth Hill, who so memorably plays the role of the eunuch master of whisperers, Varys. Hill, a noted and award-winning theater actor, largely discusses theater matters… but there are some remarks regarding Game of Thrones, including the fact that he originally read for a different role entirely before being offered the part of Varys.

The official Game of Thrones Tumblr has just announced a contest for art-inclined fans of the television series. The challenge? Create your own fan poster for Season 3. The rules explain all you need to know about the requirements to participate, as well as the rather substantial prize package with an estimated retail value just south of $5,000 (including the limited edition Iron Throne and the awesome direwolf bookends from Dark Horse.)

The contest runs from now to 12 PM Eastern time on to June 14th, so plenty of time to get to work!

Over at “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin has posted the fact that he and co-editor Gardner Dozois have delivered the cross-genre anthology, Dangerous Women. He has provided a full list of contents, and there’s a surprise in there for fans of the series:

Emphasis mine, for those looking for details on Martin’s story.

Here’s a couple of fascinating tidbits from interviews with Ciarán Hinds and James Purefory, both who had been on HBO’s Rome—a fine show, one of the most lavish productions ever put to screen as a regular hour long drama—and who have been asked (for various reasons) to remark on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Of course, only one of these actors is actually on the show, but the other has been a fan-favorite when it comes to casting speculation…

First, of course, is Ciarán Hinds, the actor cast as Mance Rayder whom we recently glimpsed in HBO’s latest video. Speaking to Irish Central, Hinds had the following to say about the first season of the show when he decided to catch up to it: