Victor Gollancz has been among the leading publishers of science fiction and fantasy in the United Kingdom for the past fifty years. Their “yellow books” … er, “distinctive golden dustjackets” … have been a part of the British scene for most of my career.

To celebrate their 50th anniversary, they’re having a special promotion.

From Gollancz:

“This year Gollancz celebrates 50 years of bringing you the very best in Science Fiction and Fantasy, from classic novels through to modern-day bestsellers.

We’ve chosen 50 titles published under the Gollancz imprint over the past 50 years. Now we want you to tell us your favourites! Simply visit the website www.gollancz50.com and select one science fiction title and one fantasy title to cast your vote.

We’ll announce the winners in September and then publish the top-five Science Fiction and top-five Fantasy titles in a fantastic collectable retro-look edition to celebrate!”

Congratulations, Gollancz. Keep up the good work. We want fifty more years, at least.

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Just received from HBO:

HBO RENEWS GAME OF THRONES FOR SECOND SEASON

LOS ANGELES, April 19, 2011 !“ Following strong critical and viewer response to the series’ April 17 debut, HBO has renewed GAME OF THRONES for a second season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

!œWe are delighted by the way David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have brought George R.R. Martin’s amazing book series to the screen, and thrilled by the support of the media and our viewers,! said Lombardo. !œThis is the continuation of an exciting creative partnership.!

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series !œA Song of Ice and Fire,! by George R.R. Martin, GAME OF THRONES follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and noblemen as they vie for power in a land where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime.

Among the early critical raves, TV Guide has called the show !œa crowning triumph! and !œbrilliant,! while the Los Angeles Times termed GAME OF THRONES !œa great and thundering series,! as well as !œwild and bewitching.! The Hollywood Reporter praised the !œexcellent storytelling, superb acting and stunning visual effects,! and the New York Post observed that the !œart directing, acting and incredible sets are as breathtaking as the massive scope of the series.!

The gross audience for the premiere night of GAME OF THRONES on the main HBO channel was 4.2 million viewers.

The season one cast includes (in alphabetical order): Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Jason Momoa, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams.

Season one credits: GAME OF THRONES is executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss; co-executive producers, Carolyn Strauss, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza and George R.R. Martin; producers, Mark Huffam and Frank Doelger; directors of photography, Marco Pontecorvo, Alik Sakharov and Matt Jensen; production designer, Gemma Jackson; costume designer, Michele Clapton.

That from HBO.

From me again: I’m thrilled.

Ten more episodes! A CLASH OF KINGS.

Looks like I’ll be writing the Battle of the Blackwater. David & Dan give me the easy stuff.

P.S. A late correction. Actually, I don’t KNOW how many more episodes. Could be ten. Could be more. Could even be fewer, I suppose, though I don’t really think so. Myself, I’d love to see twelve episodes this second time around, since CLASH is a hundred pages longer than GAME. But that’s a call for HBO and Dan and David, and I am sure they will let us know once it’s made.

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PEOPLE magazine wants to know.

Let them know at:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20482822,00.html?hpt=Sbin

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We are only a few hours away from the HBO premiere of GAME OF THRONES.

Many of you will be watching, I know. I think that most of you will love it. Some will not, of course. Opinions always vary. Others will like it, but with quibbles. You will have thoughts about what you’ve seen, opinions you’d like to share, actors or scenes you especially liked or disliked. You’ll have a lot to say.

There are a lot of good places for that. Websites, blogs, and bulletin boards that have been set up specifically for detailed discussions of the show. Such as:

WESTEROS
http://asoiaf.westeros.org/

WINTER IS COMING
http://winter-is-coming.net/

TOWER OF THE HAND
http://www.towerofthehand.com/

HBO FORUMS
http://www.hboforum.com/forum/index.php

And for those of you from other countries, there are some great fan sites in other languages as well. You can find a list (by no means complete) on the Links page of my website.

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/links.html

Whether you love what you see or hate it, I would ask that you take your discussions to one of those sites, please. I do not want any spoilers to pop up here, and spoilers are almost inevitable when the talk gets going. Also, it is quite likely that more people will watch the show tonight than have ever read the books, in all the years that they have been coming out. Some will inevitably find their way here. And that’s great… but Ty and I have enough trouble keeping up with all the comments as is. A substantial increase in traffic would overwhelm us.

So… if you would, take your comments on the HBO series to one of the many sites better suited to host them, and we’ll keep this Not A Blog for news and general nonsense.

Thanks for understanding. I hope you all enjoy the show.

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Winter is coming to HBO… tonight!

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I think we can be pretty sure GAME OF THRONES will be better than SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER, at least. Fortunately, this show comes from Benioff and Weiss, not Bialystock and Bloom.

We’re pretty excited here. (Even though I’ve already seen tonight’s episode).

And remember — HBO is free this weekend on most cable systems throughout the US. So even if you don’t normally get HBO, if you have cable the chances are excellent that you can at least see tonight’s premiere.

(After which, of course, we hope you’ll all be signing up for HBO).

More a little later. I have to get back to Kong.

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… to a city near you.

That is, if you live near New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.

There are several Iron Thrones out there, moving about the country. You too can sit in one, and be king (or queen) for a few minutes.

You can find the Iron Throne at:

NEW YORK
Thursday, April 14 – Union Square
*photo booth 11am – 7pm
Friday, April 15 – Columbus Circle
*photo booth 11am – 7pm
Saturday/Sunday, April 16/17 – 14th and 9th
*photo booth – 1pm – 9pm (Saturday) / 11am – 7pm (Sunday)

LOS ANGELES
Thursday, April 14 !“ Sunday April 17 !“ Hollywood & Highland Courtyard
*photo booth 11am-7pm

PHILADELPHIA
Thursday, April 14 !“ Sunday April 17 !“ 30th Street Station
*photo booth 11am-7pm

SAN FRANCISCO
Thursday, April 14 !“ Sunday April 17 !“ Yerba Buena Gardens
*photo booth 11am-7pm

P.S. I am a day late in getting this up, I know. Sorry. With the TV series set to premiere on Sunday night, HBO has so much happening right now that I can’t possibly keep up. Not and wrestle Kong into submission at the same time. And Kong comes first. So those of you who are interested in up-to-the-minute info on the show, please check in regularly at Westeros http://asoiaf.westeros.org/ and Winter Is Coming http://winter-is-coming.net/ where you’ll find the latest news and views much more quickly than I can hope to get it up.

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… whizzing past the Flatiron Building.

I’ve known these were coming ever since I dropped that “pedaling” clue a few posts down, but this is the first report I’ve received of one actually being seen on the streets.

So far as I know, they are only on the streets of New York. Sorry, no, I don’t know where you can find them, how many there are, or how long they will be around… but if I find out, I’ll be sure to tell you here.

I want to ride in one soon!

[[ LATER ]]

And here’s the official skinny on the pedicabs.

Yes, there’s more than one. A whole fleet, in fact.

(And a shout out here to JetboyGirl, our own resident BWB pedicabbie. Hey, Kate, how’d you like one of these?)

Rides are complimentary, it says right there on the pedicabs.

As to where to find them… good question. I’d look around Central Park and COlumbus Circle myself, though who knows? The first one was spotted at the Flatiron, a long way downtown, so the cabs could be popping up all over.

Have fun hunting for them, guys.

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Those of you who enjoyed the NEW YORKER article about me and Ice & Fire might also enjoy this podcast interview with author Laura Miller:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2011/04/11/110411on_audio_miller

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And number 16 too…

… in Brazil, that is.

My Brazilian publishers have informed me that the first two books of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE have made the main Brazilian bestseller lists:

http://publishnews.com.br/telas/mais-vendidos/Default.aspx?cat=9

Very cool! Thanks to all my Brazilian readers. I hope you’ve enjoyed the books.

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