We’ve just been informed that the A Song of Ice and Fire Board has been nominated in ARWZ’s first annual award, designed to promote forums that have helped provide a place for fans of “alternate reality” literature (SF/F, horror, etc.) to talk about it. We’re very pleased with this, and would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the board (past and present) who has helped to make it the great place it is. :)
If you’d like to vote, go here and scroll down a bit to the list of forums. We’re down towards the bottom.
A few examples of Graig Kreindler’s limited edition print of King’s Landing, from the Meisha Merlin limited edition of A Clash of Kings, are still available for sale at $40 (including shipping & handling!) Graig has recently provided a clean image of the map, so that buyers will know what to expect. As you can see throughout this thread, everyone who’s bought the map and who has commented has called it quite beautiful.
It’s a perfect holiday gift for any Ice and Fire fanatic, but you should act fast. As he notes in the thread linked above:
“If anyone wants to pick up any before Christmas, it would be best to let me know within the next few days. I am going to be going away on Friday for a week, so I won’t have access to the Internet/lithos/PO thereafter (even though the holidays are right after).”
GRRM’s official site has been updated with a new sample chapter, this time from the forthcoming new Wild Cards novel, Inside Straight. The piece is written by Daniel Abraham (co-author with George and Gardner Dozois on The Shadow Twin and author of the first in a new fantasy series, A Shadow in Summer).
GRRM’s official site has been updated with an extensive update of his “Not a Blog”, which includes information concerning the progress he’s made on various fronts but also the fact that A Dance with Dragons has not progressed as far as he hoped because of the various disturbances and obligations he had. He will not finish it by the end of this year, and will no longer post speculation as to when it will be done. In the “News” section, GRRM has announced that he has concluded negotiations to allow Haute Productions to produce miniature busts based on the series, and possible future production of pre-painted resin statues and even a chess set. The sculptor, Justice Joseph, is well-regarded in the business.
Other updates include some new foreign edition covers in “Cover Art”.
The Spanish edition of A Storm of Swords, titled Tormenta de Espadas, won this year’s Ignatus Award for Best Foreign Novel. Congratulations to GRRM and the good folks at his Spanish publisher, Gigamesh!
In what’s starting to be a yearly tradition, the Brotherhood without Banners is collecting donations from fans of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series for Child’s Play. This charity helps distributes books, games, and toys to hospitalized children both in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
To learn more about how to donate through the BwB, please go here and help us raise money in a good cause!
GRRM’s official site has been updated with the news that a new publication date has finally been set for the rerelease of Armageddon Rag; it will be out in February of 2007.
GRRM has also updated his "What I’m Reading" section with his views on Jacqueline Carey’s duology Banewreaker and Godslayer, which he very much enjoyed (as did we).
In the eighth and final installment of George R. R. Martin’s podcast series, GRRM discusses the fans of "A Song of Ice and Fire". Besides using iTunes and RSS feed aggregators as discussed here, the episode can also be directly downloaded for listening here.
The Prophecies section has been reworked and updated. It now sorts prophecies by character, and the index lists the prophecies with book number, page number(s) and a hopefully descriptive title. We have also added information from a A Feast for Crows.
Every six months or so, we like to raise funds to help cover some of the costs incurred in running the A Song of Ice and Fire Board. Because of most excellent site admin (who also provides hosting for Westeros.org in general), the cost of the board is much lower than it would be at a commercial hosting package, but there’s still some cost. If you use the board to any degree and enjoy your time here, please do donate! To donate, you can go here where a group action for $500 is being hosted.
It should be noted that Fundable does take a percentage of the money raised (7%) but the convenience of it is that those without Paypal accounts can just use their credit cards without having to sign up for anything. Furthermore, Fundable actually requires fundraisers to be $500 or more; if a fundraiser fails to reach its minimum, the funds are basically sent back to the donors. $500 is more than we need this time around (in general, we look to raise roughly $750-$800 per year to help with the hosting costs). We contacted Fundable and they have assured us, however, that if we don’t reach the $500 mark, they’ll still pass on the money. This is one reason why we’ve made it a 2 week fundraiser rather than a month-long event, since we’re not concerned about reaching $500. That said, we do hope to raise at least $350.
Again, if you wish to donate, please go here. Thanks for your continuing support!
In the seventh, penultimate installment of George R. R. Martin’s podcast series, GRRM discusses the various games and other items available for fans of "A Song of Ice and Fire" fans to indulge in.. Besides using iTunes and RSS feed aggregators as discussed here, the episode can also be directly downloaded for listening here.
In the sixth installment of George R. R. Martin’s podcast series, GRRM readers an excerpt from the prologue chapter of A Feast for Crows. Besides using iTunes and RSS feed aggregators as discussed here, the episode can also be directly downloaded for listening here.
Bioware, makes of such classics as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinted Nights, and Knights of the Old Republix, are working on a new computer roleplaying game called Dragon Age. What’s interesting for GRRM fans is the fact that Bioware has stated that they’ve taken some inspiration from “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
GRRM’s official site has been updated with his latest loss in the literary awards season in the "News" section, but it’s more than made up for it by the excellent sales of the A Feast for Crows paperback. "From My Readers" is also updated with several new entries.
Amok, one of the top artists of A Song of Ice and Fire imagery, has announced that due to technical problems his site will be immediately moving to a new address. So update your bookmarks, and So get yourself over to Amok-koma.ru or, alternatively, Amok-net.ru. If it doesn’t work today, DNS propagation can take 48 hours or more, so just keep trying.
Update: Apparently the move is on hold, and its possible that Amok will be able to retain his present site after all. Keep checking out the original site, and especially its forum, for further news.
