George R.R. Martin's Official Website - News Archive

The bad news: both the numbered and lettered editions are sold out. If you write to SubPress right away, you can maybe get yourself on their waiting list in case one of the preorders cancels... but most likely the only way to get this one will be through a dealer or bookstore, or later on (at much higher prices) via ABE or ebay.

Bill Schafer writes on the Subterranean website, "Some very good news for those who've been waiting so patiently for our two volume limited edition of George R. R. Martin's A Feast for Crows to be published. We've long since approved everything, including printed-but-not-yet-bound copies of the books. Once the finished books are finished—likely in the next week—we'll send off to have the slipcases manufactured. If all goes according to plan, we'll be shipping finished copies of the books sometime in January."

This FEAST will be published in two volumes, lavishly illustrated inside and out, and signed by both artist and author. For more details about the edition, check out Subterranean's website.

And while FEAST may be sold out, the Subterranean editions of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH (the forthcoming Jack Vance tribute anthology), the 'Ace Double' of STARLADY and FAST-FRIEND, and my collaborative novel HUNTER'S RUN (co-authored by Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham) remain available from the publisher... but act soon if you want one, before those titles are gone as well.

Valyrian Resin is proud to announce that their "A Song of Ice and Fire" Series One Collectible MiniBusts are now in stock and available for purchase.

Series One features eight-inch busts of Eddard Stark, Daenerys Targaryen, and Sandor Clegane. Each bust is available in two versions: the regular versions retail for $64.99, the special variant versions for $74.99. Three-packs and six-packs are also available, if you want to be the first kid on your block to collect the whole set.

Orders placed previously have been shipped and fans can order these high quality collectibles for immediate shipment. Valyrian Resin is handling orders and shipments in North America while European distributor Abysse Corp will be handling orders in Europe for retailers.

These are just the beginning. The good folks at Valyrian Resin are in the process of sculpting the next three minibusts. The Series Two line-up includes the golden twins, Jaime Lannister and Cersei Lannister, and Arya Stark with Needle They're also working up a full-lenth statue of Jon Snow with Ghost. The Series Two Busts and Jon Snow statue should both be available early next year.

Valyrian Resin is a brand new start-up company, the brain child of two toy and collectible entrepreneurs, Justice Joseph and Jed Haigh. Justice is the lead sculptor and art director for the company, while Jed serves as Haute's production manager. Haigh and Joseph have a combined sixteen years of experience in the toy and collectible industry and have worked with companies such as Gentle Giant, Toy Biz, Diamond Select, SOTA Toys, Palisades Marketing, Mattel, Hasbro, Jazz Wares, and several others.

To stay up-to-date on all of Valyrian Resin's lineup of collectables, join the email list by writing to info@valyrianresin.com . Take a moment to visit their site and look at the busts. I think you'll like what you see.

Here's your chance to spend a year in Westeros.

The official Song of Ice and Fire for 2009 is now at the printers and will soon be shipping... in plenty of time for Christmas and the New Year. Published by the Dabel Brothers and gorgeously illustrated by Michael Komarck, the calendar can be preordered from Amazon.

The calendar will also be available nationwide through comic shops and bookstores (though not, unfortunately, at those calendar kiosks that you see popping up at malls at Christmastime, though perhaps if enough of my readers ask for them at such places, we can change that by next year), and any other outlet served by Diamond Distribution.

In addition, there will also be two special limited editions, featuring the variant Jon Snow cover seen here, and sold exclusively from the Dabel Brothers on-line storefront.

The special editions will be limited to 500 copies, and will contain working sketches, additional artwork, and other material not included in the basic calendar. There will be 250 copies of the special with the variant cover and extra material, retailing at $24.99, and 250 copies of the numbered deluxe edition, which will be signed by me. Those will go for $49.99, and Les Dabel assures me they will contain even more extras and bonus material.

Michael Komarck's stunning artwork has previously graced the covers of THE ART OF ICE & FIRE from Fantasy Flight, and INSIDE STRAIGHT and BUSTED FLUSH, the new WIld Cards mosaic novels from Tor, as well as many other book jackets, games, and cards. Subjects featured on his calendar include Jon Snow at the Wall, Tyrion in his sky cell, Arya discovering the dragon skulls beneath the Red Keep, the duel between the Hound and Lord Beric, and other fan favorites from A Song of Ice and Fire.

And this is just the start. Plans are already under way for the 2010 calendar, to be illustrated by Mike Kaluta.

For everyone who has ever dreamed of serving in the Night's Watch and standing with a blade in hand to face the darkness rising in the north... or who's just wanted a full-size replica of some of the weapons wielded by their favorite characters in A Song of Ice and Fire... Valyrian Steel has just announced that their long-awaited version of Longclaw is now available for preorder. The estimated shipping date is the fourth quarter of 2008.

Officially licensed and designed in close consultation with yours truly, Valyrian Steel's version of Longclaw is a hand-and-a-half "bastard sword," 39 inches long with three fullers. It features a stylized wolf head pommel, made to resemble Jon's direwolf Ghost. The replica is a limited edition of 2500 pieces, which each blade individually laser serialized with the edition number. Each sword also comes with a wooden display plaque and a certificate of authenticity signed by me.

For more information, check out Valyrian Steel's website.

"Valyrian Steel" is a subsidiary of Jalic, Inc., of East Lansing, Michigan. Jalic is a new company, but its owner and proprietor, Chris Beasley, has long been involved with making and selling swords, knives, and fighting steel and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the project. "This is a new business for us and this line of swords will be our first," Chris writes, "however, we are dedicated to delivering to collectors a top of the line display sword in both quality and aesthetics. The lead designer for our sword line is a 20 year veteran of sword & knife design. He has worked on reproductions from the Lord of the Rings movies, has his own line of fantasy swords, and has had his works featured in dozens of other movies and TV shows."

"Depending on the success of the line we will expand into other arms or armor from the series or possibly produce an even more limited line of battle-ready reproductions," Chris tells me. They're already hard at work on Arya's Needle, and other blades will follow.

Valyrian Steel's package will also include a brief history of Longclaw:

"For five centuries the Valyrian steel sword Longclaw was carried by the Lords of Bear Island in the service of the Starks of Winterfell. Passed from father to son, the hand-and-a-half sword—called a bastard sword by the uncouth—had a great history while in their possession. That came to an end, however, when the last lord of the House, Jorah Mormont, was disgraced and fled Lord Stark's justice. Jorah went into exile, but left behind the sword which then found its way back to his father, Jeor, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Longclaw was kept out of sight, until the fateful night came when a wight—a dead man brought to life by creatures out of nightmarish legend—sought to throttle the Old Bear in his sleep. It was his squire, Jon Snow, and Snow's albino direwolf Ghost who rescued him by setting the wight ablaze. Though part of Lord Jeor's apartments were burned down following this, the fire would need to have burned a hundred times hotter to harm the blade that was forged in old Valyria before the Doom. The ancient silver bear's head pommel and the hilt was burned, but these were replaced at the Old Bear's command with something befitting Snow. Given the sword, now adorned with a wolf's head pommel, and the opportunity to rename it as a gift. Jon Snow responded that wolves have claws just as bears do, and kept the proud name as it was."

Time to dust off those twenty-sided dice again. Wild Cards has returned to role-playing once again, after a hiatus of more than fifteen years. Last week at Gencon in Indianapolis, Green Ronin Games rolled out its highly anticipated Wild Cards Campaign Setting book, for its popular Mutants & Masterminds RPG. The book, by veteran Wild Cards author John Jos. Miller, includes a full history of the Wild Cards universe, profiles and illustrations of dozens of major characters, aces and jokers both, background information and rules on the wild card virus, and an introductory adventure.

"The Wild Cards Campaign Setting is a great resource for fans of the series," said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas. "John Jos. Miller did a tremendous job on the book and it's great to see Wild Cards return to its roots in roleplaying." The 256-page hardback is lavishly illustrated and features full color art within and without, and retails for $39.95. No fan of the series will want to miss this one. Even those who don't game will find the book a treasure trove of infomation about the series, with a complete chronology, maps, numerous character histories, etc.

Green Ronin will be following the book up with two more Wild Cards titles. All-in, an adventure anthology, will be released in the fall and Aces & Jokers, a collection of famous and infamous characters, will be released in the Spring of 2009.

The Wild Cards series grew out a role-playing game played by half a dozen New Mexico science fiction writers, and made its debut in book form in 1987, featuring stories and characters by an all star lineup of creators that included Roger Zelazny, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Lewis Shiner, Howard Waldrop, John Jos. Miller, Chris Claremont, Stephen Leigh, Michael Cassutt, Edward Bryant, Pat Cadigan, Victor Milan, William F. Wu, and a host of others. Twelve volumes were published by Bantam from 1987 through 1993, and three by Baen Books from 1993 to 1995. After a seven-year hiatus, iBooks revived the series in 2002, reprinting six of the original Bantam titles and adding two new volumes before going into bankruptcy. And in January of 2007 Inside Straight, the first volume in a new triad and the eighteenth installment in the overall series, was released by Tor Books to widespread acclaim. Busted Flush is scheduled to follow this December. Meanwhile, the Dabel Brothers are publishing a brand new Wild Cards comic, The Hard Call, from writer Daniel Abraham and artist Eric Battle. Wild Cards has outlasted all the other shared world anthologies of the 80s to become the longest-running such series in the history of SF and fantasy.

I have always loved the annual Tolkien calendars, gorgeous productions illustrated by world-class fantasy artists like Alan Lee, John Howe, and Ted Nasmith. Many of them have hung by my desk in years past, their unforgettable images of Middle Earth and the characters and scenes of LORD OF THE RINGS burning themselves into my memory.

And now, at long last, I am thrilled to be able to announce that I will have a calendar of my own. Dabel Brothers Publishing, the good folks who brought you the graphic novel versions of THE HEDGE KNIGHT and THE SWORN SWORD and the new Wild Cards comic, THE HARD CALL, have announced plans to publish a 2009 calendar based on A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, illustrated by the wonderfully talented Michael Komarck, one of the hottest young artists on the fantasy scene.

Komarck's stunning artwork has previously graced the covers of THE ART OF ICE & FIRE from Fantasy Flight, and INSIDE STRAIGHT, the new WIld Cards mosaic novel from Tor, as well as many other book jackets, games, and cards. To see more of his work, check out his own website.

The calendar will be issued in three states. The basic version, retailing at $14.99, will be distributed by Diamond and will be available nationwide in comic shops, bookstores, and every other outlet that sells calendars. In addition, there will also be two special limited editions, featuring the variant Jon Snow cover seen here, and sold exclusively from the Dabel Brothers on-line storefront.

Two of Michael Komarck's paintings have been released previously by DB Pro as prints suitable for framing; the remaining ten will be entirely original, never before seen in any form. The subjects include Jon Snow at the Wall, Tyrion in his sky cell, Arya discovering the dragon skulls beneath the Red Keep, the duel between the Hound and Lord Beric, and other fan favorites from A Song of Ice and Fire.

The calendar will be available in December 2008, well in time for the holiday season. If it does well enough—and you folks will help determine that—we hope to make it an annual event, with a different artist illustrating every year.

SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH, the Jack Vance tribute anthology that I'm co-editing with Gardner Dozois, has been moving ahead rapidly, and we expect to deliver the complete manuscript to our publishers within the next six weeks.

The anthology will feature brand new stories from twenty-one of today's leading fantasists, set against the sinking lands and swollen red sun of Vance's Dying Earth, a universe that ranks with Tolkien's Middle Earth and Howard's Hyborian Age among fantasy aficionados. Jack Vance and his representatives have been so kind as to give us permission to use Jack's characters as well, so fans can expect appearances from Chun the Unavoidable, Guyal of Sfere, T'sais, and other favorites... and yes, of course, Cugel the Clever will be on hand as well. It would hardly be the Dying Earth without him.

Eighteen stories have already delivered and accepted from our all-star lineup of writers, Jack Vance fanatics all. The current lineup includes:

There are still three more stories due, including contributions from Howard Waldrop and Neil Gaiman. We're expecting those soon. Jack Vance himself has written a preface for the anthology, and the book will also feature an appreciation from Dean Koontz, bestselling writer and lifelong Vance fan.

Tor will be publishing the trade editions in the United States, and HarperCollins Voyager in the United Kingdom. Subterranean Press will produce three special editions for the collector's market—a deluxe illustrated hardcover of 1500 copies, and an even-more-deluxe signed, numbered, limited, illustrated, slipcased edition of 500 copies. The numbered edition will be signed by both editors, all the participating writers, and Jack Vance himself.

The Subterranean editions will also include extensive interior illustration by the award-winning artist Tom Kidd. Here are a couple of the pieces he's already completed, to give you a taste, along with his spectacular cover painting. Subterranean's lettered edition is already sold out, alas, but copies of the numbered edition and their trade can be pre-ordered from Subterranean Press.

If you have never visited the Dying Earth before, you don't know fantasy. Vance is one of the greats, and it is our hope that SONGS will prove a fitting tribute to his genius.

Aeons ago, when I was kid in Bayonne, I bought all my books off the spinner rack in the candy store on 1st Street and Kelly Parkway. Paperbacks were the only books I could afford and even they were horrendously expensive. Just one book cost as much as three comic books and a Milky Way bar: 35 whole cents. For that kind of money, I wanted value, so whenever I could I snatched up Ace Doubles.

"Two Complete Novels," the covers promised (two novellas, really, but "complete novel" sounded better). The Doubles had two covers, one on the front and one on the back (and often both had wonderful Emsh art), so you had to be sure you flipped the book over to make sure you weren't buying two copies of the same one. The 'novels' were bound back to back, each upside down in relation to the other, and printed on the world's cheapest paper, but it was in the pages of those Ace Doubles that I first encountered Cliff Simak, Jack Vance, Eric Frank Russell, Murray Leinster, A.E. van Vogt, Wilson Tucker, Andre Norton (and Andrew North!), Jerry Sohl, Damon Knight, Edmond Hamilton, Gordon R. Dickson, and many other writers whose work I soon came to love. There was a point where those Ace Doubles with their distinctive red-and-blue spines made up something like three-quarters of my library, and of course, when I began to write my own stories, I used to dream that one day I might have an Ace Double of my own.

That was a long long time ago, of course. Ace Books is still around and doing fine, though they stopped publishing "doubles" decades ago. But I'm still going to get my double... kinda sorta... thanks to Bill Schafer and the good folks at Subterreanean Press.

When I was putting together GRRM: A RRetrospective for SubPress back in 2003, the hard part was not picking which stories to include, but deciding which ones were going to be left out. Even in a book as big as that one, you don't have room to include everything. Two of my last cuts were the novelettes "Fast-Friend" and "Starlady." Originally published in anthologies, neither story ever got much attention, but I was fond of both of them, and hated having to leave them out of my RRetrospective.

Now I finally get to make up for that oversight. Subterranean will be publishing the two of them, back-to-back and upside down, in true Ace Double fashion, with two covers by Martina Pilcerova. I tried to convince Bill Schafer to sell them for 35 cents apiece, to complete the homage, but he demurred, mumbling something about production costs. Instead there will be a trade hardcover edition for $20, and 200 copies of a signed limited edition for $45. (You'll have to do your own calculations to figure out how much that is in comic books and Milky Ways). The books are available for preorder now, so head on over to the SubPress website if you'd like to snag one. (They're too big to fit into the wire slots on a spinner rack, alas). Not "Two Complete Novels," no, but "Two Complete Novelettes." Order direct from Subterranean Press via their website.

Or, if you'd rather try to win a free copy of STARLADY/ FAST-FRIEND, head over to Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. Enter his latest contest, and you may be the lucky winner who walks away with a copy of the limited.

And speaking of SubPress, their limited edition of my historical horror novel FEVRE DREAM sold out months ago, but it's not too late the snag a copy of their beautiful edition of HUNTER'S RUN, illustrated by the Hugo award-winning artist Bob Eggleton. There are two vserions; the numbered copies go for $50, the deluxe lettered edition for $150. Both are signed by all three authors. The lettered copies are housed in a custom traycase. Publisher's Weekly wrote of the novel, "Martin (Song of Ice and Fire series), Dozois (Strange Days) and Abraham (A Shadow in Summer) revisit classic themes of exploration, exploitation and what it means to be human in this gritty SF adventure...This tightly written novel, with its memorable protagonist and intriguing extrapolation, delivers on all levels."

Dunk and Egg are back.

If you missed the six-issue run of The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword from DBPro and Marvel Comics, don't despair. Marvel has collected all six issues into a graphic novel, and the hardcovers are on sale now from you favorite bookseller or comics shop.

The graphic novel is available with two variant covers: one for the direct market (comic shops), and the other for the mass market (bookstores, Amazon, etc). Here's a look at both of them. Buy either, or or be the first kid on your block to own both versions. The story's the same, an adaptation of my novella "The Sworn Sword." Ben Avery did the script, Mike S. Miller the art -- the same great team who brought you the first Hedge Knight comic.

This should be a merry Christmas for Wild Cards fans. Tor has scheduled Busted Flush, the second installment in the new triad that began with Inside Straight, for publication in December.

The nineteenth volume in the overall series, Busted Flush features the return of three popular mainstays from our original run with Bantam and Baen: Carnifex, Cameo, and... but no, that would be telling. The three veterans will be sharing the action with Bubbles, Jonathan Hive, Curveball, Drummer Boy, Stuntman, Earth Witch, Rustbelt, Double Helix, and the other "next generation" wild carders introduced in Inside Straight, and some great new characters making their Wild Cards debuts, among them Genetrix, Hoodoo Mama, Snowblind, Little Fat Boy, and Our Lady of Pain. The lineup looks like this:

Originally launched in 1987, Wild Cards has outlasted all the other shared worlds of the 80s to become the longest-running such series in the history of our genre. For a taste of the new triad, check out the Wild Cards Sample on this website. And be sure to visit Tor's official Wild Cards website, the informative fan site at wildcardsonline.com, and the lively Wild Cards Forum.

"Double your pleasure, double your fun, buy two limited editions, instead of just one."

The good folks at Subterranean Press are now shipping not one but two of their long-awaited GRRM limited editions -- HUNTER'S RUN, my collaboration with Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham, and FEVRE DREAM, my historical horror novel.

These are collector's editions for fans who love fine books, both gorgeously illustrated. Cover art and interior illustrations for HUNTER'S RUN was provided by the Hugo Award winning (many times) artist Bob Eggleton. (Yes, the guy with the hair). For FEVRE DREAM, up-and-comer Justin Sweet (not to be confused with Darrell Sweet, please) did the honors. Justin hasn't won any Hugos yet, but if there's any justice, there will be a few of them lurking in his future.

Subterranean is releasing FEVRE DREAM in two states: a numbered edition of 448 signed numbered copies, leatherbound, in slipcase, for $125, and a lettered edition of 52 signed copies in a custom traycase. The lettered edition was sold out long before publication, I fear, but Bill Schafer of Subterranean informs me that he still has 75 copies of the numbered edition available. They'll be sold on a first come, first served basis, however, and SubPress does not expect them to last long, so if you want one, order now.

HUNTER'S RUN is also available in two versions. There are 500 numbered copies at $50, and 26 copies of the lettered edition at $150. Both will include autographs from all three authors. The lettered copies will be housed in a custom traycase. Publisher's Weekly wrote of the novel, "Martin (Song of Ice and Fire series), Dozois (Strange Days) and Abraham (A Shadow in Summer) revisit classic themes of exploration, exploitation and what it means to be human in this gritty SF adventure...This tightly written novel, with its memorable protagonist and intriguing extrapolation, delivers on all levels."

Order them now from your favorite book dealer, or direct from Subterranean Press via their website.

2008 is the year of the Wild Card. The new Wild Cards mosaic novel, Inside Straight, hit the bookstores on January 22, and has been getting some great buzz... though that might just be Jonathan Hive. My beloved New York Giants, a wild card team, roared through the NFL playoffs and won the SuperBowl. And come April the Dabel Brothers will be releasing the first issue of their new Wild Cards comic -- The Hard Call.

The Hard Call is not an adaptation of any of the existing Wild Cards stories, old or new, but an all-new, all-original tale designed and written especially for comics. The story and script are from Daniel Abraham, author of the highly acclaimed fantasy novels A Shadow in Summer and A Betrayal in Winter, co-author (with me and Gardner Dozois) of Hunter's Run, and creator of Jonathan Hive (from Inside Straight) and Father Henry Obst (from Deuces Down). For The Hard Call, Abraham has created an entirely new cast of characters... and brought back one old favorite, a guy named Croyd who never learned algebra. When a sudden outbreak of the wild card virus strikes a high school in Colorado, the survivors are rushed to New York City's famous Jokertown Clinic. Some find themselves twisted into jokers, while others emerge with the powers of aces... and meanwhile, the Sleeper finds he has been framed for murder... and he's not going to rest until he clears his name.

Artwork on The Hard Call will be provided by Eric Battle, whose previous credits include Batman, Green Lantern, and many other titles. I've seen Eric's pencils for the first two issues, and delighted in the way he's bringing Daniel's story to vibrant life. Here are his covers for the first two issues of the run. If you'd like to see some more of his work, check out his website.

The first issue will also feature a variant B cover painted by Arthur Sudyam. The mini-series will be six issues long, with the first issue available in April, 2008. Afterwards, the story will be collected in graphic novel format as a Del Rey trade paperback, with a spectacular painted cover by Vance Kovacs.

"Wild Cards is one of those series in science fiction that many comic book fans have read, because it's really a sci-fi take on superheroes," explained Ernst Dabel, President of Dabel Brothers Publishing. "And that's excellent news, because this story feels right at home in the format. It's a great way for old fans to enjoy the story in a new way, and it's also a wonderful introduction to the world of Wild Cards for those who've never had a chance to read the books before."

You can reserve your copy of Wild Cards: The Hard Call at your favorite local comics shop, or order directly from DBPro.

The Wild Cards series has its roots in comics, and I'm thrilled hat it will be returning to comics once again, after too long a hiatus... and not just with adaptations of the books, but with brand new stories and brand new characters, Old Wild Cards hands and brand new ones should both be thrilled by The Hard Call.

A new sample chapter from A DANCE WITH DRAGONS will be featured in the premiere issue of SpectraPulse, the new magazine sampler from Bantam Spectra, scheduled to make its debut at this year's New York City Comicon.

SpectraPulse will not be available by subscription or at your local newsstand, I'm afraid. The glossy, 32-page, full color magazine will be given away free at the Bantam Spectra booth at certain select conventions throughout the year -- both major comicons (New York and San Diego), the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, and the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary, Canada... and perhaps at other cons, if the supply lasts.

The magazine will feature essays by authors, excerpts from forthcoming Spectra titles, puzzles and games, and all sorts of other fun content... and, in its first issue, a slighly abridged version of a chapter from A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. More than that I will not reveal... except to say that it's not the Tyrion, Dany, or Jon Snow chapters that I have rotated on my website 'Sample' page over the past year. This one is titled, "Reek," and it opens with a juicy description of a man eating a live rat. Just the thing to whet your appetities...

I did ask the good folks at Bantam if my fans would be able to write in and get a copy, but alas, that won't be possible. The only way to get hold of a copy of SpectraPulse will be by turning up at one of the conventions where it is being given away. (Though I don't doubt that the usual ripoff artists will scarf up their free giveaway copies and have them up for sale on ebay within hours of the magazine's premiere).