It’s not the George R.R. Martin book we’ve all been waiting for, but nonetheless there will be a lot of fans excited for the release of The World of Ice & Fire. This is a large book that will detail the histories that led up to A Game of Thrones. It has been produced by George R.R. Martin with two of his most dedicated fans, Elio M. Garcia and Linda Antonsson. Martin himself said of it, “It is going to be a gorgeous book, a big coffee table volume with lots and lots of stunning artwork, and tons of fake history. We were supposed to provide 50,000 words of text, but… ah… I got carried away.” In total the book weighs in at 336 pages, here’s what readers can expect inside:
THE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN HISTORY OF WESTEROS AND THE LANDS BEYOND • WITH HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF ALL-NEW MATERIAL FROM GEORGE R. R. MARTIN
If the past is prologue, then George R. R. Martin’s masterwork—the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time—warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with The World of Ice and Fire.
This lavishly illustrated volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s Game of Thrones. In a collaboration that’s been years in the making, Martin has teamed with Elio M. García, Jr., and Linda Antonsson, the founders of the renowned fan site Westeros.org—perhaps the only people who know this world almost as well as its visionary creator.
Collected here is all the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers. It is a chronicle which stretches from the Dawn Age to the Age of Heroes; from the Coming of the First Men to the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror; from Aegon’s establishment of the Iron Throne to Robert’s Rebellion and the fall of the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, which has set into motion the “present-day” struggles of the Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, and Targaryens. The definitive companion piece to George R. R. Martin’s dazzlingly conceived universe, The World of Ice and Fire is indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords.
As for the cover, the style will look fairly familiar to A Song of Ice & Fire fans. The three headed dragon will mean more to some readers than others, depending for far through the series you are. However, regardless of the symbolism, I think dragons and A Song of Ice & Fire go hand-in-hand so it’s great they’ve found their place on such an important book.
Anyway, here it is:
If you can’t wait to see what kind of content will be within this companion, George R.R. Martin has posted a sample of Aegon’s Conquest. The piece reads like a non-fiction history, but certainly seems composed with a non-academic reader in mind. It doesn’t feel boring, which I think is hugely important with a history book based on fiction. Here’s my favourite paragraph:
A common myth, oft heard amongst the ignorant, claims that Aegon Targaryen had never set foot upon the soil of Westeros until the day he set sail to conquer it, but this cannot be true. Years before that voyage, the Painted Table had been carved and decorated at Lord Aegon’s command: a massive slab of wood, some fifty feet long, carved in the shape of Westeros and painted to show all the woods and rivers and towns and castles of the Seven Kingdoms. Plainly, Aegon’s interest in Westeros long predated the events that drove him to war. As well, there are reliable reports of Aegon and his sister Visenya visiting the Citadel of Oldtown in their youth, and hawking on the Arbor as guests of Lord Redwyne. He may have visited Lannisport as well; accounts differ.
The World of Ice & Fire by George R. R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia, Jr. and Linda Antonsson will be published on October 28, 2014! We’re excited 🙂
Jennie Ivins