Can't imagine a better news to come back with after my paternity break. According to The Live Feed, first season of adaptation of Game of Thrones (first book of Song of Ice and Fire saga by George R.R. Martin) has been green-lighted by the producer: HBO. It doesn't come as a big surprise, we have all been expecting it - SoIaF is a great story, excellent cast was picked for the series and George's involvement in the project pretty much adds up to success.

Now it's official though. Nine episodes plus the pilot have been ordered. Production will begin in Belfast this June, which hopefully we'll get to see later this year. Read original article here.

SoIaF fans, rejoice!

Adam from The Wertzone just posted about the covers for the new edition of Song of Ice and Fire series being released in France. The covers have a new art, created by Marc Simonetti. Four covers feature Tyrion in King's Landing, soldiers in the forest "looking for Stark children" and two castles, Pyke and Castle Black at the wall.

While the two castles look really good, especially the Pyke, which looks like it was caught during the siege. The second castle I liked less, I pictured Castle Black much bigger, I have to admit though, The Wall is impressive. The two last images are rather disappointing. King's Landing doesn't have a realistic feel to it, like the buildings were clumped on top of each other and the last cover, picturing Iron men looking for Bran and Rickon just lacks... everything. There are hundreds of more memorable moments in Storm of Swords, why pick this one?

I just wanted to let you know that Dublin signing was a blast. There was a lot of people, great many books were bought and photos were taken. For over three hours Eason was overrun by Song of Ice and Fire fans. I bought there my copy of Songs of the Dying Earth and George received a copy of Last Wish, a gift from Fantasy Fan members.

After the signing we went not to Oval like it was originally planned (yay for double booking Oval!) but to a nearby hotel, where we sat with GRRM and talked, talked, talked. It was an amazing experience, which I will describe in more detail later. Tonight I will only say, thanks for coming George!

Some time ago we wrote about a new fantasy Anthology co-edited by George R.R. Martin: Warriors. This highly anticipated piece of literature will arrive in the bookstore near you on March 16, 2010. The anthology will include a story set in the world of Song of Ice and Fire: "The Mystery Knight".

You can preorder the book today on Amazon.com.

George announced some time ago that he will be visiting Ireland in order to take a look at the set of HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones. Yesterday he announced that on his Not A Blog he's going to be visiting London as well!

I'll be appearing at Forbidden Planet's megastore on Wednesday, November 11, to sign copies of the new Harper Collins trade hardcover of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH, the Jack Vance tribute anthology, and any of my other books as well. The signing will begin at 5:30 pm. Or 17:30 for you folks over there.

Read more about the signing here.

Good news from George's Not A Blog! For those of you living in Belfast and Dublin, or are willing to travel, George is going to make an appearance there! There will be two signings, in Belfast on November 3 at 1:00PM. It will take place in:

Eason & Son, Ltd.
20 Donegall Place,
Belfast, Belfast, BT1 5BA
028-9023-5070

The second one will be in Dublin (I'm attending this one!) on November 5 at 5:00PM. This one will take place in:

Eason's
40 O'connell Street Upper
Dublin, Ireland
+353 1 8733811

And if you have time after the signing you might be interested in social gatherings organized by Brotherhood Without Banners. To find out more about moots take a look at BWB forum.

And finally, for those of you unable to come to the signings GRRM said:
Those of you who cannot make the events can still order a signed book. Just call Eason's ahead of time and pre-order, and they will put your book aside for me to sign when I am there, then ship it to you afterwards.

George RR Martin announced on his Not A Blog a new anthology that he and Gardner Dozois edited. And let me tell you, it looks absolutely amazing! Not only does this anthology include all-star lineup of bestsellers and award winners from half a dozen different genres, but it also features two new GRRM stories, opening and finishing the anthology: "Stories from the Spinner Rack" and "The Mystery Knight". If you want to see the full list of stories in the anthology read on below.

"The Mystery Knight" is a story set in the world of Song of Ice and Fire, at times before the events described in the series. Martin admits, it's the new Dunk & Egg novella, the longest one to date. Dunk and Egg are two characters from Martin's story The Hedge Knight.

During my two week absence there were some interesting news on HBO's adaptation of A Game of Thrones. More roles have been cast for the production and the most prominent among them was the role of Queen Cersei, Robert Baratheon's wife and sister to Jaime Lannister, The Kingslayer. Cersei, being one of the most crucial and demanding roles in the series was a tough one to cast. It needed a very strong female character, one capable of invoking strong emotions and on top of that the actress had to project a very aggressive kind of beauty.

Finally, after days filled with speculations on who the seven new actors in HBO's Game of Thrones production will be the news is finally out. Hollywood Reporter breaks the news and right after, the news flows from George R.R. Martin himself. George must have been really excited about the cast because he had separate blog posts prepared for each actor/character. Here is the list:

As Jaime Lannister... we have Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
As Theon Greyjoy... we have Alfie Allen.
As Arya and Sansa Stark... we have Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner.
As Robb Stark... we have Richard Madden.
As Daenerys Targaryen... we have Tamzin Merchant (on the photo).
As Ser Jorah Mormont... we have Iain Glen.

Martin writes a lot about the actors in his blog updates, so if you're a fan of the series and hope that it'll be a smashing hit make sure to read them all. What I found particularly interesting is the fact that Martin really is actively involved in making the TV series. He mentions talking to the producers about Dany's sex scenes and a decision to leave them in the show as they are essential to the story.

I'm really getting excited about this production. :-)

While George R.R. Martin puts last touches on A Dance With Dragons, HBO prepare for filming the pilot of adaptation of Game Of Thrones all fans can do is sit tight and wait, right? Wrong! Some fans go above and beyond, enriching the world of Song of Ice and Fire on their own. Take a look at this great map of Westeros created by Tear, from the Guild of Cartographers. Thanks to this amazing map you will be able to add new dimension to your SoIaF experience, tracking the movement of armies and characters as they make their way across Seven Kingdoms. I'm blown away by the level of detail this map has. It's just that great! :-)

Tear kindly granted me permission to post his map on Fantasy Fan, provided I give credit where it's due. So, once again, this fabulous map was created by Guild of Cartographers based on the fictional realm of Westeros from George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. You can find the map in our downloads section.

George R.R. Martin announced on his Not A Blog that Green Ronin Games received two ENnie Awards for the Song of Ice and Fire RPG, winning the silver medal for "Best Rules" and the gold medal for "Best Free Product for Quickstart."

Just to refresh your memory, Song of Ice and Fire RPG is a pen-and-paper RPG system set in the wonderful world of Westeros from, yes, you guessed it, Song of Ice and Fire series by GRRM. The SoIaF RPG is being praised not only for the world it's set in, but also for the rules that make gameplay enjoyable experience for both new and seasoned players alike. Two awards Green Ronin Games received for it seem to be well justified.

If you want to find out more about the game, read the blurb below or go here.

The King is dead! Long live the King! Freed from the grip of mad King Aerys II, Westeros emerges from a bloody civil war as Robert Baratheon attempts to bring a lasting peace to the Seven Kingdoms. In spite of the promises of justice and prosperity for all, this perilous time is marked by the political maneuvering of ambitious nobles and foul plots hatched in secret councils. Villains are rewarded for dark deeds and honest men are brought low for old loyalties. Conspiracies abound, the wind carries rumors of war, and the Great Houses struggle to find their places in this new regime. And all the while an ancient evil stirs in the far-flung reaches of the north. Green Ronin Publishing is proud to bring adventure gaming back to Westeros with A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying.

George recently announced on his Not A Blog another important character for upcoming HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones. Actress Jennifer Ehle has been cast as Catelyn Stark. George writes:

Most of you will know her best from her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in the BBC's miniseries of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE in 1995, but she's got all sorts of other credits, she's won a BAFTA Award and two Tonys, and she will be a wonderful Catelyn.

Jennifer is not a big name some fans were expecting, but I'm with George on this choice. Having Sean Bean as Ned makes the production "big", while sticking to less known actors for other roles makes it original, we won't be seeing only faces previously known from other movies/series. Hopefully we'll escape "Agent Elrond" trap. ;-)

Although I would love to see Patrick Stewart somewhere in the series... I think he would make excellent Syrio.

In other news, take a look what Time has to say about "HBO's Next (I Hope) Great Drama". Remember that the decision on the series is not final, HBO is only making a pilot and if people don't like it, the whole project may go down the drain. The publicity pilot is getting though makes me think that it's going to be picked up.

Lets cross fingers!

The Wertzore reports news heard on Comic Con. Apparently George RR Martin's editor, Anne Groell, provided a brief update on state of things for long awaited A Dance With Dragons. Here's the scoop:

The apparent consensus from the information provided is that the book is huge, with well over 1,000 manuscript pages 'locked' with no further editorial work to be done on them, and several hundred more which are a mixture of chapters for ADWD that need some finalising and several more chapters which are being worked on for Book 6, The Winds of Winter. GRRM's editor's comments seem to be in agreement with GRRM's recent ones, that an October completion for a March 2010 publication (in the USA, the UK could get it in February) is not unreasonable, but once again nothing is set in stone.

We all know to not to hold our breath when it comes to Dance With Dragons, but this really looks like a reasonably certain date. Fingers crossed!

We got the official word on the Game of Thrones cast! George RR Martin himself posted on his Not A Blog information regarding actors already assigned to the pilot. First of all, he confirmed that Sean Bean is indeed going to play Ned Stark. We wrote about it few days ago.

Martin announced more actors joining the the crew. The most impressive name was Mark Addy (see the photo), who is best known for his brilliant performance in Knight's Tale. Mark will play Ned's dear friend, King Robert Baratheon. I trust that he's going to deliver the role with the same skill he displayed in Knight's Tale.

Winter Is Coming reports that according to "a legit inside source" Sean Bean (Boromir from Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy) was cast as Eddard Stark in the Game of Thrones pilot. If this information proves to be true I'll be a happy man. Ned's role is very important, he was the leading character in the Game of Thrones, the most charismatic one, so picking a good actor for his role was crucial to the success of the show.

Sean's choice for Ned's part is a good sign for the show. He definitely has the experience to pull off the role he's been given. It also means that producers are serious about the series. Sean is a well established actor, a face that will bring more viewers to the screen on top of giving excellent performance.

George decided to break his unwritten rule about not talking Dance with Dragons on his Not a Blog today! He's saying that the last 6 weeks have been very productive (when Dance is concerned) and he sees glimmering that might just be a light at the end of the tunnel.

He also has some deep thoughts on writing in general, claiming it's like sausage making; you'll all be happier in the end if you just eat the final product without knowing what's gone into it.

To read his entire post click here.

George R.R. Martin announced on his Not a blog that he has discovered a number of copies of the deluxe limited edition hardcover of the GAME OF THRONES rpg in his storage. If you don't mind the fact that they are NOT horribly water-damaged and you'd like to have a signed copy for yourself visit this link:
http://www.georgerrmartin.com/books-limited.html

You'd think that this topic would get old, but apparently not. Dance with Dragons is not out yet and readers are still waiting anxiously. Some more anxiously than others.

Bitching to another writer about it though is a bit over the top if you ask my personal opinion. Take a look at the letter some fan sent to no other than Neil Gaiman. You'll find the mail and Neil's reply on his blog:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com

I like Neil's reply. It's long and detailed, however it's summarized amazingly in those simple words:

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly George is, indeed, your bitch, and should be out there typing what you want to read right now.

Cheers to you Mr. Gaiman!

The Song of Ice and Fire re-read blog is running for close to two months now, we're closing on the ending of first book, A Game of Thrones. In the two months since the launch of the blog the formula changed a bit, instead of making big updates with 5 chapters reviewed at a time I decided to go with single chapter updates. This should be easier to read and allow to find whatever information you're looking for more easily (you can pick a single character to track).

If you still haven't seen the blog, take a look here!

It's confirmed, the pilot for HBO series based on GRRM's "A Game of Thrones" will start shooting in Northern Ireland, in October. Here is the official press release . Martin will be overlooking the creation of the pilot, but he's not going to stay in Ireland for the entire duration of the shooting.

This news makes me especially anxious, because I live in Ireland, just few hours drive from Belfast. How great would it be if I got a chance to visit the set? I don't dare to hope...

George RR Martin just posted on his Not a blog that he's terminating the contract with Dabel Brothers. This means that unless another publisher suddenly hoves into sight, the problem-plagued 2009 Ice & Fire calendar may be the only one there ever is. This is sad news as the calendar was brilliant...

With imminent release of ?A Dance With Dragons? many readers will hesitate. They will be asking themselves the question "Do I remember the series enough to enjoy the new book?" The most dedicated fans will re-read the entire series before reaching for Dance, but how many will be discouraged? There is no way of telling.

This is why I decided to create a blog where SoIaF fans could refresh their memory of the series without actually going through the thousands of pages of text again. For those of us that can?t for one reason or another spend weeks buried nose deep in the books, the Song of Ice and Fire re-read blog should deliver a synopsis of the story, just enough for you to not feel lost when the Dance arrives at your door.

Recently George announced on his Not-A-Blog a big sale of his foreign edition books. So if you're interested in getting a signed book in French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Czech or Polish take a look at George's website: GeorgeRRMartin.com .

Looks like it's going to happen after all! Winter is coming reports that HBO's writer, David Benioff, mentioned in his interview with Swedish newspaper that the pilot for Game of Thrones TV series will start filming in Ireland in October.

The success of George RR Martins' series is undeniable. The next book of Song of Ice and Fire is easily one of the most anticipated fantasy books right now. There is talk about adapting it as a TV series (see Song of Ice and Fire on HBO). It's no wonder that there is a demand for a game.

SoIaF is not challenging World of Warcraft yet though. The game I'm talking about here is a MUSH (Multi-User Shared Hallucination), which is similar to MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), only more focused on co-operative story-telling. The game is free and requires you only to have a web browser.

Take a look at the Blood of Dragons MUSH here: www.westeros.org/BoD .