Long before I ever dreamed of Westeros, I had another setting I returned to again and again and again in a long series of short stories, novelettes, novellas, and even one novel (DYING OF THE LIGHT). The Thousand Worlds stories spanned centuries and light years and had their own cast of heroes, villains, legends, and colorful characters… none of them more colorful than the trader (and ecological engineer) Haviland Tuf, the protagonist of a long series of stories I collected together in the fix up TUF VOYAGING.
I always meant to write more Tuf stories. At one point, back in the 80s, I planned a second collection of stories (TWICE AS TUF) and a full-length Tuf novel (TUF LANDING)… but, alas, other novels and television and ICE & FIRE came along, and what with one thing and another I never got around to writing them. From time to time, I’ve even played with the idea of a television series about Tuf and his adventures… the stories are presently under option, as it happens, but… well, that hasn’t come to pass yet either.
But I am thrilled to be able to say that Haviland Tuf and his cats (he likes cats, y’see) ARE coming back… in a graphic novel.
We have closed a deal with the good folks at Ten Speed Press and Random House for VOYAGING, an adaptation of my novella “The Plague Star.” The very first Tuf story… well, not the first to be published, that was “A Beast for Norn,” but the earliest in Tuf’s personal timeline. More than that I will not say, for fear of spoiling the tale for those of you who have not read it.
The amazing and inimitable RAYA GOLDEN will be doing the adaptation and the art. It will be the third of my projects that Raya had adapted: she did the graphic story version of MEATHOUSE MAN a few years back (and snagged a Hugo nomination for it), followed by a wonderful version of STARPORT, an unproduced television pilot I wrote in the 90s. I loved what she did with that one, but VOYAGING promises to be even more fun.
….these are rough color tests and they may or may not end up looking like this in the end, but I think they’re pretty close to the final versions which I’ll be working from once I finish up the script…
Here’s Raya on the project:
So I’m doing a NEW graphic novel, another adaptation, but THIS one I’ve had my eye on for almost a decade. It’s not slated for release till 2023 as I actually have to Draw the sucker first, but boy am I excited to bring this one to life. For those of you familiar with GRRMs Science Fiction work will be very familiar with this set of short stories BUT due to the nature of this introduction story I don’t want to talk too much about that yet and if y’all remember the story you’ll remember why it’ll be fun to keep the secret with me! Suffice to say this story is an adaptation that is NOT set in GRRMs usual medieval world of Westeros, but instead in his Science fiction universe called The Thousand Worlds.
This first story is just an introduction to this universe, but HOPEFULLY there will be more volumes to come!
Here is the official description:
George R.R. Martin and Raya Golden’s VOYAGING, VOLUME ONE: THE PLAGUE STAR, the first volume of a graphic novel adaptation of TUF VOYAGING, Martin’s short story collection set in his science fiction universe the Thousand Worlds, to be adapted and illustrated by Golden, which follows a group of unlikely spacefaring rogues on a mysterious mission involving unfathomable galactic fame and fortune (but only if they can survive), to Kaitlin Ketchum at Ten Speed Press, in an exclusive submission.
I’ll be working with a friend of mine from College a very talented artist by the name of Ann Marcilleno
https://annmarcellino.tumblr.com
And I’ll be sharing more info as it arrives, but for now I present the cast of the first volume of VOYAGING; from right to left we have: RANITTAS, MUSHROOM (THE CAT), KAJ, JEFRI, CELISE, HAVILAND WITH HAVOC (THE KITTEN), AND AWHINA
Please help me spread the news and like my illustration page
https://www.facebook.com/rayagoldenillustration
AND my website 😉
If VOYAGING does well, our hope is that Raya will go on to adapt more of Tuf’s adventures into comic form… and who knows, perhaps in time there will even be some NEW tales to tell of our intrepid hairless hero.
As Tuf would say… “Indeed.”
Current Mood: 
bouncy
