By all accounts, the books in George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series are sweeping, indelible works of fantasy on par with The Lord of the Rings or The Once and Future King. They also, however, range in length from 674 to 1216 pages — which is the main reason I’ve never sunk my teeth into them. Until now. READ FULL STORY »
Are you ready for the biggest fantasy news since HBO decided to make a TV show called Game of Thrones?
The next book in George R.R. Martin’s bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series has a publication date.
Yes, we swear, after waiting six long years since the release of the last novel in the saga, the fabled Book 5 A Dance With Dragons is close enough to being finished* for Martin’s publisher to set a release date. We have that date, exclusively, along with a first look at the book’s cover art and an interview with the man himself.
A Dance With Dragons will be published by Bantam on July 12, 2011. The manuscript is huge — the publisher estimates the hardcover edition will run more than 900 pages, putting it about the same length as the longest book in the series, A Storm of Swords. Schedule your summer vacation accordingly.
Plus, if that weren’t enough, there’s a new HBO Game of Thrones trailer out today that’s exclusive to EW — full-length, new footage (The Wall!) and slightly NSFW.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What took so long?
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: I’m not sure I have a good answer. If I did, I would have taken less time. It’s enormous. It’s as long as A Storm of Swords. It’s very complicated. I have a lot of characters and points of view. And I’ve been doing a ton of rewriting, trying to get it where I wanted it to be. Some of these chapters I’ve rewritten more times than I can count before I’m satisfied with them. READ FULL STORY »
Bantam Books is set to announce that it has acquired the comic-book and graphic novel rights to George R. R. Martin’s hugely popular A Song of Ice and Fire series. The first of the monthly comic books — to be illustrated by Tommy Paterson and adapted by Daniel Abraham — is due out later this spring, as is the HBO adaptation of the first book in the series, Game of Thrones. Dynamic Entertainment will issue the comic books and Bantam will later collect them in graphic-novel form. While we all wait for this influx of Games-related stuff, here are some preliminary comic sketches for characters Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister to tide us over. They’re after the jump. READ FULL STORY »
