NEWS RELEASES FROM GRRM--2003 and Earlier:
11/22/03 AN AUDIO SONG OF ICE AND FIRE -- UNABRIDGED! I get a lot of emails. The question asked most often is "When will A FEAST FOR CROWS be done?" But second place probably goes to "Why isn't A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE available as an audiobook?" It's a good question, and one that came across my desk often enough so that I decided to address it in my FAQ. There was an audiobook deal for A GAME OF THRONES on the table a few years ago, but it was for an abridged nine- hour version. Nine hours sounded like a long time when the proposition was first made to me, but when I received the abridged text of the novel for approval, I realized that it was hardly any time at all. The abridgement would have been a Cliff's Notes version of the book, so I killed the project. And that's where the matter stood...till now. But that's all about to change. It thrills me no end to be able to announce that audiobook versions of the first three novels of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE are now in the works, and should be on the shelves next year. If they do well enough, the rest of the series will follow in due course. And best of all, these recordings will be completely unabridged! Audiobook fans will get the books, not a summary of the plot with a few scenes sprinkled in. The tapes are being produced by Books On Tape, the nation's largest producer of unabridged audiobooks (and a sister company to Random House Audio). Production is well underway. In fact, A GAME OF THRONES is in post-production as I write, and our reader has moved on to A CLASH OF KINGS. Oh, and our reader? That's the best part. The novels are being read by the magnificent Roy Dotrice. Roy and I worked together for three years on the television series BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, where he played the part of Father. I can't think of anyone that I would rather have reading my books. A list of Roy's credits would fill a sizeable book itself, but for those not familiar with his work, he is a classically trained British stage actor who has appeared all over the world in everything from Shakespeare to Xena: Warrior Princess. He was Mozart's father in Amadeus, he still holds a place in the Guiness Book of World Records for his one-man show Brief Lives, he's worked with everyone from Charles Laughton to Cheech and Chong, and he does such a marvelous range of voices and accents that you'd swear he was twenty different people. His previous narrations include the audiobook of Richard Adams' masterpiece Watership Down. I can scarcely wait to hear what Roy does with A GAME OF THRONES. It's a real pleasure to be teamed with him again. As for the question of length... well, my producer at Books On Tape tells me that A GAME OF THRONES alone filled thirty-eight 90-minute cassettes... which should give you some small idea of how much that nine-hour abridgement would have cut. Sometimes it pays to wait. 11/22/03 A GAME OF THRONES WINS IGNOTUS AWARD 
The Spanish translation of A GAME OF THRONES from Gigamesh Press of Barcelona has been named the winner of the Ignotus Award as the "Best Foreign Novel of 2002." The Ignotus Awards -- the "Spanish Hugo" -- are voted by the members of the Spanish Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (AEFCF), and given annually at Hispacon, Spain's national convention. The award is a reproduction of the 2001 monolith, done in black concrete 15cm high.
Needless to say, I'm delighted to learn that my novel was so well received by the fans and readers in Spain. But a large part of the credit goes to my Spanish translator, Cristina Macia. I hope she'll be getting a black monolith as well. 
The cover art for Gigamesh's edition of DYING OF THE LIGHT also took home an Ignotus, for "Best Illustration." My thanks and congratulations go out toJuan Miguel Aguilera, the artist, who did such a splendid job of evoking Worlorn. Aguilera's award-winning cover painting can be seen in the Art Gallery, for those who'd like to have a look.
And my thanks as well to Alejo Cuevo and all his crew at Gigamesh. I could not ask for a better publisher... or a better host, when last I visited Baracelona. One of these days I really must get back there. 10/29/03 A GREAT REVIEW FOR GRRM Just had to share some great news. GRRM: A RRetrospective, my massive new career-spanning collection from Subterreanean Press, got a terrific review in the October 26 issue of the WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD. "... the most ambitious volume ever to come from an American specialty press" and "... one of the most important -- and generous -- single-author collections of recent years" are my favorite bits, but the reviewer had lots of other good stuff to say about the book as well. For those who are curious, the entire review can be found online here. 
Subterreanean released the trade hardcover of the RRetrospective at Torcon, where I was Guest of Honor. That edition has already sold out, as has the forthcoming superdeluxe lettered edition of 52 leatherbound copies, each in a handcrafted traycase. However, some copies of the numbered edition still remain available at this writing, and can be preordered from Subterranean. The numbered edition sells for $125, and for that you get an autograph, a handsome slipcase, and half a million words of stories, scripts, and commentaries. I'm very proud and pleased with this book, and I'd like to thank all those who contributed to its success: Gardner Dozois for his introduction, Leslie Kay Swigart for her bibliography, and artists Phil Parks, Tim Truman, Ron Brown, Tom Mandrake, Janet Aulisio, and Mark Nelson, whose illustrations brought my characters and stories so splendidly to life. And thanks as well to William Schaefer and Tim Holt of Subterranean Press, for all the time, effort, and care that they lavished on this project. Their exquisite design and attention to detail made GRRM: A RRetrospective a gorgeous example of bookmaking at its best. 10/15/03 THE RETURN OF DUNK AND EGG October 15, 2003 
Dunk and Egg are back! Ser Duncan the Tall and his insolent young squire made their first appearance in my novella "The Hedge Knight" in the landmark fantasy anthology LEGENDS, and are presently the stars of the marvelous HEDGE KNIGHT comic adaption from Roaring Studios and Image Comics. But that was only the beginning of their story. They return in "The Sworn Sword," the new novella I wrote for LEGENDS II. A new king sits on the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are plagued by drought, lawlessness, pestilence, and the spectre of rebellion... but Dunk, his sword sworn to the service of an elderly landed knight, finds he has troubles of his own closer to home. Like the original LEGENDS, LEGENDS II is a mammoth original anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, featuring eleven brand-new stories by some of the brightest stars of contemporary fantasy Silverbob himself gives us a new Majipoor story, Neil Gaiman returns to his AMERICAN GODS characters, Orson Scott Card pens another tale of Alvin Maker, the marvelous Robin Hobb takes us up the Rain Wild River in a prequel to her "Liveship Traders" series . Other contributors include Diana Gabaldon, Anne McCaffery, Elizabeth Haydon, Ray Feist, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams... and me. 
The British hardcover of LEGENDS II has just been released by HarperCollins in the UK, and is available from any British bookstore on the net. The American hardcover, from Del Rey Books, should be out around Christmas. Del Rey is also doing a 500-copy limited edition signed by all eleven contributors, so if you're an autograph hound, keep an eye out for that. 09/15/03 ICE AND FIRE LITHOGRAPH STILL AVAILABLE 
Mike S. Miller, the penciller on Roaring Studio's wonderful comic adaption of THE HEDGE KNIGHT, is also doing a series of four dramatic full-color scenes inspired by A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. Each of them will be an original work (not a page from the comic), suitable for framing, fine art lithographs on high quality paper, limited to one thousand copies and available in three qualities.
The first lithograph shows the battle between Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar, Prince of Dragonstone, in the waters of the Trident. The piece was released in February and has been selling briskly, but Mike tells me that there are still some available. If you'd to order one before they're gone, go to the Art of Ice and Fire site at http://www.theartoficeandfire.com . 08/29/03 TUF VOYAGES AGAIN Haviland Tuf, ecological engineer, interstellar trader, keeper of cats, lover of mushrooms, and master of the Ark, the last surviving seedship of the old Empire, will be voyaging back onto the bookshelves soon.  The good folks at Meisha Merlin Publishing are bringing out a brand new edition of TUF VOYAGING, originally published by Baen Books in 1986. The collection includes all of Tuf's adventures from the pages of ANALOG and the other markets where they first appeared, including the Hugo nominee "Guardians."
Several of those old ANALOG stories were illustrated by Janet Aulisio, whom I've always regarded as the definitive Tuf artist. Janet's original ANALOG illustrations are included here; in addition, Meisha Merlin commissioned her to do twenty-eight new pieces exclusively for this new edition, so the book is handsomely illustrated throughout. The limited edition will also include Janet's ANALOG cover for "Manna From Heaven" as a full-color frontiespiece. Michael Komarck has done the cover art, a beautiful wraparound showing Tuf on the command deck of the Ark surrounded by his travelling companions. Meisha Merlin will be releasing the book as a trade paperback, a trade hardcover, and a signed, numbered limited edition. Go to http://www.meishamerlin.com/TufVoyaging.html to place your order. TUF VOYAGING should be out by Labor Day. 08/12/03 HEADS OR STARS? The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros have the usual sort of maddening medieval monetary system. No simple base ten nonsense here. No, Westerosi coinage is more akin to old, pre-metric British money, with its pounds, shillings, guineas, ha'pennies, tuppences, and groats. No wonder Robert Baratheon hated counting coppers. You would too. And now you can have the chance. Will Whitfoot of Shire Post, who has long been renowned for turning out splendid Middle Earth coinage for Tolkien fanatics, has retooled his presses for the Seven Kingdoms, and will be issuing a series of Westerosi coins. He's started with the copper, but silver stags will follow if there's enough demand for them, and perhaps even a golden dragon.  
Will's first Westerosi coin is a heavy copper produced late in Robert's reign. It bears the king's head on one side, and the seven-pointed star of the Faith on the reverse. You can add one to your collection by heading for Shire Post's online shop at http://www.shirepost.com . One of these fat coppers will buy you a steaming bowl of brown in any pot shop in King's Landing, with some ale to wash it down. On Earth, it will buy you... absolutely nothing. 6/27/03 The collectible card game of A GAME OF THRONES won the Origins Award for the best new CCG at the recent Origins convention. Congratulations to the guys from Fantasy Flight Games! 6/10/03 HEDGE KNIGHT COMIC NAMED "GEM OF THE MONTH" 
The first issue of THE HEDGE KNIGHT comic book will be released next month from Image Comics and Roaring Studios. PREVIEWS, the trade magazine of the nation's largest comics distributor, has named the book one of its "Gems of the Month."
THE HEDGE KNIGHT will be released with two different covers -- the regular cover, by Mike S. Miller, and a special "variant" cover by Mike Kaluta, who needs no introduction to anyone who knows comics. They're both fabulous, in my (admittedly prejudiced) opinion. Here's a look at the art for the Kaluta cover. Subsequent issues of THE HEDGE KNIGHT will offer variant covers by Tom Mandrake, Tom Yeates, Boris Vallejo, and other terrific artists, as well as Mike Miller's fabulous work. Meanwhile, progress on the later issues continues apace. Ben Avery is hard at work on the script for issue four, Mike S. Miller, and Mike Crowell are doing the art for issue three, and Roaring Studios is overseeing the lettering and coloring of issue two. But for any of that to matter, issue one has to sell some copies. If you like comics, buy early and often, and tell all your friends. 04/20/03 
GAME OF THRONES CCG NOMINATED FOR ORIGINS AWARDThe good folks at Fantasy Flights Games have been doing a wonderful job with the collectible card game based on A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, and it looks as though I'm not the only one to think so. The game has been nominated for the prestigious Origins Award, the Hugo of the gaming industry. The Origins Awards are hobby game industry awards given each year for many different categories of games. The nominees are chosen by the members of GAMA (the Game Manufacturers Association) but the winner of each category is determined by fan voting. 
The GAME OF THRONES collectible card game is one of five finalists for Best New Trading Card Game, and the first expansion set, A SEA OF STORMS, has been nominated as Best Card Game Expansion.
Needless to say, I'm delighted. The guys from Fantasy Flight impressed me from the first with their enthusiasm, their expertise, and their obvious knowledge of Westeros and my world. I had every hope that they would do a terrific game, and it seems they have... so that sound you hear is me, giving a rousing hand of applause to Eric Lang, Brian Wood, Christian Petersen, and the rest of the crew at Fantasy Flight, and all the wonderful artists who have helped them bring the Seven Kingdoms to life. The Origins Award is decided by fan vote. If you've played and enjoyed the Fantasy Flight ccg of A GAME OF THRONES and would like to see it win, you should cast your vote at: http://www.aagad.org/FinalPublicvotinginstructions.html Remember that after you vote, you'll be emailed a link to confirm your vote -- until you click on that link your vote isn't counted! 04/03/03 TWO GRRM DRAGONS 
The gaming magazine DRAGON is offering a double dip of Westeros for fans of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.
The current issue of DRAGON (#305) includes "The Arms of the Kraken," a novella-length excerpt from A FEAST FOR CROWS, illustrated by Justin Sweet. The novella tells the story of the fight for the driftwood crown of the Iron Islands in the aftermath of the events of A STORM OF SWORDS. This is the March issue of the magazine, on sale at newsstands and bookshops from coast to coast... but if you'd like to read the novella, you had better snap up a copy soon, since the April issue will soon be taking its place. That's only the opening act, however. The May DRAGON (issue #307) will be a special Westeros issue. A spendid cover painting, by Hugo-nominated artist Donato Giancola, depicts everybody's favorite red priestess, Melisandre of Asshai. Inside, readers will find art and articles about the world of the Seven Kingdoms, including scenarios and suggestions for role-playing campaigns set on the Wall, or amongst the backstabbers and intriguers of King's Landing. The issue will also feature a full-color fold out map of Westeros, north and south, and a brand new interview with yours truly. 
4/03/03:
A STORM OF SWORDS PAPERBACK RELEASED
All those Ice and Fire readers who have been waiting with bated breath for the mass market paperback of A STORM OF SWORDS can finally exhale. Bantam Spectra released its paperback of the third volume of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE this month... and yes, unlike the British edition, Bantam got the entire book into a single volume. The mass market also includes a new, never-before-published preview chapter from A FEAST FOR CROWS, volume four in the series... just to whet your appetites a little more. 
3/28/03iBooks has released their reprint of WILD CARDS VI: ACE IN THE HOLE 2/28/03 A STORM OF SWORDS wins Geffen Prize The Hebrew translation of A STORM OF SWORDS has won the Geffen Prize for the best fantasy book of the year in Israel. The award was announced at Icon 2002, the Israeli national SF convention. The Hebrew editions of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE are being published by Opus Press. 02/20/03 THE ART OF ICE AND FIRE Artist Mike S. Miller has been doing a sensational job on the pencils for the graphic version of "The Hedge Knight" (forthcoming from Roaring Studios and Image Comics), bringing Dunk and Egg and their friends and enemies to vivid life.. but either Mike is a glutton for punishment, or Westeros must have gotten into his blood.
I'm thrilled to announce that Miller will be producing a series of four large-size limited edition lithographs of scenes from the Seven Kingdoms and A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. Each of these will be an original work (not a page from the comic), suitable for framing. Not a poster... these are fine art prints, true lithographs on high quality paper, limited to 1000 numbered copies and available in three states.The first lithograph, just completed, shows the final confrontation between Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar, Prince of Dragonstone, in the waters of the Trident. Here's a look. Check out the Art of Ice and Fire at http://www.theartoficeandfire.com for more on the lithographs -- including ordering information. Mike has also made the scene available as wallpaper for your computers. 01/22/03 HEDGE KNIGHT COMIC NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDERS http://www.roaringstudios.com/mainsite/news.html 
Roaring Studios has been roaring right ahead with their comic book version of "The Hedge Knight," my novella from Robert Silverberg's first LEGENDS anthology. The first issue is nearing completion, and Roaring is now accepting preorders. For details, check out their website at
the link above.
Roaring's version of "The Hedge Knight" will be a six-issue miniseries. Mike S. Miller is penciling the comic, with Ben Avery handling the adaption and scripting chores. The color is by Liquid. For a taste, here's the first two pages. Enjoy. 
And of course, the original novella version of the tale remains available in LEGENDS, if any of you have yet to read it (shame on you). The novella is set in the Seven Kingdoms of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, but takes place ninety years earlier, during the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen.
01/15/03
Down & Dirty reissued
WILD CARDS V: DOWN & DIRTY, has been reissued by iBooks. 12/17/02: New GRRM interview online at Silklantern.com November 19, 2002 A GAME OF THRONES collectible card game 
FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES debuted its collectible card game A GAME OF THRONES last August at Gencon, to a very enthusiastic reception from the games community. The game has gotten some great reviews, and Fantasy Flight has lots of exciting plans for its continued expansion and promotion. A special cadre of "Night's Watch" game masters is helping to spread the word by running GOT tournaments all over the country. For details, check out the FFG website at http://www.agameofthrones.com/
The initial release allowed players to vie for the Iron Throne as Starks, Lannisters, or Baratheons, but FFG will be adding more houses in their expansion sets. The first of those, A SEA OF STORMS, is scheduled for December release, and will feature House Greyjoy. I have seen a lot of the artwork for the new set, and I think it's even better than the art for the starter decks. Here's a couple of samples to whet your appetites. Check out Fantasy Flight's own website for more art from this set.
11/09/02: Mike S. Miller talks about adapting "The Hedge Knight" to comics 10/16/02:  Wild Cards fans: ACES ABROAD, was released in September by iBooks. 10/16/02: New GRRM interview online at Dusksite.com August 4, 2002 "THE HEDGE KNIGHT" COMES TO COMICS  I'm an old comic book fanboy, as anyone who has ever read WILD CARDS has likely figured out. Back in the dawn of time, the first stories I ever published could be found in the comics fanzines of the 60s, and I still treasure my collection of comic books. So it's a thrill for me to be able to announce a forthcoming comic book miniseries based on "The Hedge Knight," the novella I wrote for LEGENDS.
The book will be published by Roaring Studios, a new company on the comics scene. They're an eager and enthusiastic crew, and have a lot of great projects in the works. Those of you who are into comics will want to be sure to check out their website. Roaring has signed Ben Avery to script the comic, Mike S. Miller to do the art, and Liquid as the colorist. All of them are committed to turning out a terrific comic, and one that is faithful to my original novella. I'm looking forward to working with them. Here's a look at their version of one of the knights in the story: Ser Lyonel Baratheon, the Laughing Storm. For those who never bought LEGENDS (shame on you), "The Hedge Knight" is a prequel to A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, a tale of a tournament held in the Reach some ninety years before the events of A GAME OF THRONES. I am rather fond of Dunk and Egg, its unlikely protagonists, and will be spinning out their further adventures from time to time, in between volumes of the larger series. To help promote the comic, Roaring Studios is offering a special "Hedge Knight" lithograph for sale. It can be ordered from the stop on their website, and the first one hundred copies will be signed by me and by artist Mike S. Miller. July 19, 2002 DEUCES DOWN DEBUTS  The long wait is over for Wild Cards fans. DEUCES DOWN, the first new Wild Cards book in seven years, was released this month by iBooks, in hardcover and ebook versions. DEUCES DOWN features seven brand new tales from the word processors of John J. Miller, Walton Simons, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Stephen Leigh, Michael Cassutt, Kevin Andrew Murphy, and newcomer Daniel Abraham, covering thirty years of secret history. This time around the focus is on the forgotten men (and women) of the Wild Cards universe, the deuces -- aces whose "super" powers are minor, trivial, sometimes even silly. Long time favorites like Demise, Bradley Finn, the Sleeper, Digger Downs, and the Great Ape return, to share the spotlight with a motley cast of unforgettable deuces, including Chuckles, Puddle Man, Heavy Lifter, His Nibs, the Myth Patrol, and Father Henry Obst. DEUCES DOWN features cover art and design by Steranko, and ten original interior illustrations by Tim Truman. It was edited by GRRM with the assistance of Melinda M. Snodgrass. June 15, 2002 Free Artwork Preorder Program: Fantasy Flight is offering a limited edition print signed by George R. R. Martin to everyone who preorders a booster display (36 booster packs) of A Game of Thrones from their local game store. You get to choose which of the following five 8x10 prints you want mailed directly to you within weeks of the game's release. All you have to do is download the Free Art Form and have your local retailer fill it out when you're at the store to preorder. You must mail the form in to us by July 15! Your limited edition print will be sent to you by August 30. This offer is only good if you preorder at a game store -- you cannot preorder through Fantasy Flight. Don't know where to find a store that will take your preorder? Check out this List of stores that will be happy to take preorders for you! Thomas Denmark Robb Stark Thomas Gianni Storm's End Martina Pilcerova Just Like the Songs John Matson Dark Wings, Dark Words Martina Pilcerova 5/27/02: New Interview online at Rhode Island Science Fiction Club May 25, 2002 ICE & FIRE CARD GAME ON SCHEDULE The folks at Fantasy Flight Games tell me that playtesting has been completed for the collectible card game based on A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE and the world of Westeros and its Seven Kingdoms. All the artwork is in as well, and the cards are now at the printers, so everything looks good for Fantasy Flight being able to introduce the game at this summer's GenCon gaming convention. We have been getting some terrific artwork for the cards, too. Here are a few more samples for your enjoyment. George R.R. Martin  "Knight of Flowers" by Jason Engle http://www.jaestudio.com  "Harrenhal" by Martina Pilcerova http://www.martina.sk  "Library Tower" by Franz Miklis http://www.franzmiklis.com/ April 16, 2002 Yesterday was tax day, a traumatic time in the life of a freelance writer. Others may get refunds, but for those of us who are self-employed April 15 is almost always the day on which we write big checks to the IRS, and so it was this year. (sob) To salve my pain, I am taking off tomorrow morning for Elf Fair in Holland. I hope that some of you will be descending on Castle de Haar as well. I'll be looking forward to meeting some more of my European readers. In addition to my various appearances at the festival, I will also be doing a signing at Boekhandel Schelterma in Amsterdam, and one at Boekhandel Donner in Rotterdam, both on Friday, April 19. After Elf Fair, I will be in Amsterdam for a few days for various interviews, and meetings with my Dutch publisher, agent, and translator. Meanwhile, on another front, Fantasy Flight Games is moving ahead quickly with their GAME OF THRONES collectible card game. The game has just gone into the playtesting stage, and Fantasy Flight tells me that they hope to launch it at this summer's GenCon gaming convention. The folks at Fantasy Flight have lined up some terrific artists to do the cards, and sketches and paintings are flooding in to their offices from all over the world. Here, to whet your appetite, here are a couple of the first of the finished pieces to arrive, by Jason Engle and Martina Pilcerova.  "Jaime Lannister" by Jason Engle http://www.jaestudio.com  "The Eyrie" by Martina Pilcerova http://www.martina.sk 3/12/02: FANTASY FLIGHT ANNOUNCES ICE & FIRE GAMES 2/28/02: A STORM OF SWORDS on final ballot for Nebula award 2/25/02: Skin Trade now available as audiobook from Random House at http://www.audible.com 
February 22, 2002Meisha Merlin Press is now accepting orders and deposits for the second volume in its series of "A Song of Ice and Fire" limited editions, the signed numbered slipcased edition of A CLASH OF KINGS, illustrated by John Howe. Howe is doing some gorgeous work for the book, both in color and black-and-white. I included a couple of samples in my December update. Let me give you another taste. Here's his cover, a stunning seascape of the Greyjoy stronghold on Pyke, and another of his beautiful interiors. 
If you'd like to see more samples of Howe's art, or place an order for one of the 500 copies of the Meisha Merlin edition, please go here:
http://www.meishamerlin.com/AClashofKings.html 2/1/02: New interview with GRRM on Fantasy Online 01/22/02: Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild (Paperback, US) now available from iBooks. 
12/15/01 JOHN HOWE TO ILLUSTRATE LIMITED EDITION OF A CLASH OF KINGS 
Tolkien fans need no introduction to John Howe's beautiful and evocative artwork, which has made him one of the world's best known and best respected fantasy illustrators. Meisha Merlin Press managed to lure John from Middle Earth to Westeros last summer, to provide their artwork for their deluxe illustrated limited edition of A CLASH OF KINGS, and I've had the pleasure of working with him for several months. Those of you who were at Worldcon in Philadelphia saw Howe's cover painting on display at the Meisha Merlin booth; a dramatic, stormy seascape featuring the Greyjoy stronghold on Pyke on its rocky stacks above the waves. Since then, John has been at work on the interior illustrations. To give you a taste of what John is doing, here are a couple of his pieces from A CLASH OF KINGS. I'll be changing the samples every few weeks, so check back often if you'd like to see more. And there will soon be an entirely different set of Howe's interiors up on the Meisha Merlin website, so you will want to check that one out regularly as well. 
If you want a copy of the illustrated CLASH OF KINGS, best contact Meisha Merlin soon. The edition is limited to 52 lettered and 446 numbered copies, and collectors who bought the Meisha Merlin GAME OF THRONES (illustrated by Jeff Jones) have right of first refusal. There are still copies of GAME available at this writing, but Meisha Merlin tells me the number is shrinking steadily, and we expect the edition to be sold out by the time CLASH is published in April. 12/01/01 Hard to believe that December is already upon us, with the end of the year just ahead. I hope all of you visiting this website had as pleasant a Thanksgiving as I did. There's nothing like having turkey with friends... it certainly beats having turkeys for friends, an entirely different proposition. Fortunately, I have great friends, and they are one of the things I am most thankful for at this time of year. I'm also thankful for my readers, who have made A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE such a great success and enabled me to buy a lot more really nice toy knights and castles. Most of all, though, I'm thankful for Parris. But enough of that, before I get too mushy. It has been a while since I updated the front page of my website, but there's not a lot of news to report... beyond the stories featured in the News column, which you'll see off there to your right, all in purple. A couple of new publications are worth mentioning, although my contributions to both are small. St. Martin's Press has just issued MEDITATIONS ON MIDDLE EARTH, edited by Karen Haber, an assemblage of essays by a number of leading contemporary fantasists concerning J.R.R. Tolkien and the influence he had on their work. I wrote the introduction to the book, and John Howe provided the illustrations. MEDITATIONS has some good stuff in it; those of you with an interest in Tolkien might want to check it out. Also published fairly recently is a new collection by Gardner Dozois, who is best known for winning Best Editor Hugos and sticking jellybeans up his nose. But the Great Gargoo is also a helluva writer, and STRANGE DAYS is a wonderful introduction to his work. Besides some first-rate fiction, the collection features one of Gargy's infamous Trip Reports, about his travels in Scotland before and after the Glasgow Worldcon. I wrote the intro to the trip report, and also feature a character in same. Soo if you're interested in learning about the Mad Scotsman who almost strangled me trying to get me to smile, pick up a copy of STRANGE DAYS. Work continues on A FEAST FOR CROWS, the fourth volume in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, despite all the disruptions caused by the remodeling of our kitchen. The kitchen is done now, the FEAST is not... but I am making progress. I read a few chapters from the book at Worldcon in Philadelphia, and a few more at Archon in St. Louis in October. The next con on my schedule will be ConFusion in Ann Arbor in January, and I hope to be doing a reading from AFFC there as well. Just what, I can't say. Maybe some brand new chapters, if the audience has heard the old ones. The second Sansa chapter, or perhaps the first Jaime... maybe even the Prologue... Speaking of cons, I do get a lot of mail asking me when I am coming to X city or Y state or Z country. The usual answer is, "I don't know." We try and keep the Appearances page of this website as up to date as possible, so it is worth checking that regularly if you want to meet me or get a book signed. We add new events just as soon as they are scheduled and confirmed. Two were added quite recently, in fact; the Williamson weekend in Portales, New Mexico, and a fantasy fair in Holland in the spring. Before I close this update, let me tip my hat to Pati Nagle, my webmaster, who does a wonderful job on the site. She is always adding new covers to the Art Gallery, new articles and speeches to Musings, and new features as well. The latest addition is What I'm Reading (scroll down if you haven't seen it), which is just what it sounds like. I read a lot, so expect that box to change frequently. I also plan to add a section on my Hobbies and Obsessions soon, which will tell you more about Richard Courtenay and Freddie Ping than you ever wanted to know. Probably not until after Xmas, though. If I don't update again until 2002, let me wish all my fans and friends a great holiday season and a wonderful new year. Keep reading. 11/21/01 Amazon.com has announced its Fantasy and SF bestsellers for 2001, and GRRM is on the list three times at #11 (A GAME OF THRONES paperback), #17 (A CLASH OF KINGS paperback), and #23 (A STORM OF SWORDS hardcover). 10/26/01 The November issue of FIRSTS is out, featuring John Miller's article on "Collecting George R.R. Martin." Copies of the article autographed by both Miller and Martin are available from John Miller at JJM1954@aol.com . 09/28/01 THE WILD CARDS ARE BACK New editions of the first eight volumes of the original Bantam series are being released by iBooks, in trade paperback and ebook editions. The first two volumes -- WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH -- have already been released, and should be available in your local bookstore. JOKERS WILD, the third volume, is scheduled for a January release. The new iBooks editions feature the Brian Bolland cover art originally done for the Titan editions in Britain, along with new interior illustrations by other well-known comics artists. WILD CARDS features ten Mike Zeck illustrations, while ACES HIGH includes art by Floyd Hughes. Each book will also include a never-before-published afterword by GRRM. And best of all, two completely new WILD CARDS books are in the works from iBooks -- volumes sixteen and seventeen in the overall series. DEUCES DOWN, the first of the new books, is presently nearing completion, and will include stories by Melinda M. Snodgrass, Walton Simons, John J. Miller, Stephen Leigh, Michael Cassutt, Kevin Andrew Murphy and our newest Wild Carder, Daniel Abraham. Look for it some time next year.
09/01/01 HARRY POTTER KICKS GRRM'S BUTT IN HUGOS 08/15/01 I wanted to bring you all up to date on some on some of the latest publication plans for A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. Bantam Spectra has just informed me of their plans to issue the first three volumes (and presumably the later ones as well) as trade paperbacks. This will be the first time that the books have been available in this format in the American market. All three volumes will be released simultaneously in trade paperback in June, 2002. This will also be the first American paperback edition of A STORM OF SWORDS. The mass market paperback of A STORM OF SWORDS will be postponed until some time in 2003. The exact pub date has not yet been set. (For those of you unfamiliar with publishing jargon, a "trade paperback" is the same size as a hardback, but with soft covers, while a "mass market paperback" is the smaller paperback you see at grocery stores and on spinner racks.) In addition, Bantam will also be releasing a new hardcover edition of A GAME OF THRONES, something that many readers have been requesting, since the first edition hardcover has become so expensive and hard to find. This new second edition will feature a cover design incorporating the Steve Youll art from the paperback, which will bring it into line with the current hardcover look of A CLASH OF KINGS and A STORM OF SWORDS. The new hardcover edition has also been scheduled for June, 2002. The series is also doing quite well overseas, and I have been signing a lot of contracts for foreign editions. Italy and Israel will both be continuing with the series, I am pleased to say, and Japanese, Portugese, Chinese (Taiwan), and Korean editions of A GAME OF THRONES are now in the works. This will be the first time that any of my work has been translated into Portugese, Chinese, or Korean, to the best of my knowledge. On the personal front, I had a wonderful three weeks in Spain, where I visited some old friends and made some new ones, drank too much sangria and ate too many tapas, saw some fantastic museums, Roman ruins, and castles, and enjoyed some wonderful Spanish and Catalan hospitality. And in about a week I will be heading east, for a visit to New York City and my family in Bayonne, followed by the World SF Convention in Philadelphia. I hope I will see many of you there. Oh... yes, I'm still working on that pesky fourth book as well. I hope to read a few chapters from it at Philcon. 07/28/01 GRRM Interviewed by El Pais Spanish Newspaper. 07/12/01 A Storm of Swords wins Locus Best Fantasy Novel Award! 05/28/01 Babbage Press releases new edition of A Song for Lya 05/16/01 Windhaven flies again! New hardcover edition from Bantam Books 04/25/01 A Storm of Swords on Final Ballot for 2001 Hugo Award 04/11/01 GRRM Featured on CNN's Entertainment Website 03/12/01 Meisha Merlin Releases Illustrated Limited Edition of A Game of Thrones 02/01 NESFA releases GRRM's new collection, Quartet. 11/00 11/00 A Storm of Swords hits #12 on The New York Times bestseller list 11/00 11/00 A Storm of Swords hits USA Today's bestseller list 11/00 George R.R. Martin to be Guest of Honor at Torcon III 11/00 A CLASH OF KINGS took the #1 place on the SF Site's Reader's Choice list for best book of 1999. See the whole list at: SF Site |
