I love books. Do you love books? Sometimes I write about the good books I’ve read or want to read. Sometimes the bad ones, too. In the past, I read mostly sci-fi and especially fantasy. Lately, I’ve been more into non-fiction, history and science. Sometimes enjoying literary works becomes difficult as I strive to learn all about stuff and things, so I’ve put that aside. The only “recent” fantasy books I’ve kept up with are Harry Potter and George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, which is now the most popular thing on the planet.
Below is a collection of posts that have been tagged with book-related keywords. That’s my lazy solution to get out of actually categorizing things by hand.
Exactly 8 Weeks Away…
Only 8 more weeks until the premiere of Season 2 of Game of Thrones on HBO! This season roughly correlates to A Clash of Kings, the second book of George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. Parts are also included from the third book, Storm of Swords, as some storylines were pulled in early from season one.
The wait is nearly over! Tune in on Sunday, April 1, 2012 for the second season of award-winning show Game of Thrones on HBO.
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: North of the Wall Survival Kit
As we close the last chapter of 2011, let’s take a look at a gift of a more practical nature.
Sometime in January, the good folks at Valyrian Steel will offer their North of the Wall Survival Kit, complete with Night’s Watch Dragonglass Dagger and sheath, leather pouch with obsidian arrowheads and certificate of authenticity. They’ll be throwing in a mystery item as well! This replica set is what every man of the Night’s Watch should carry when patrolling the woods for Wildlings, guarding the Wall against the Others, or even wandering the Realm for new recruits.
Made from real obsidian, the dagger is crude yet cunning, forged at the Wall at a time of great peril. Own a piece of A Song of Ice and Fire history! Pre-orders to start on after January 7th. While you’re waiting anxiously, check out their other replicas at the Valyrian Steel Shop!
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: A Game of Thrones Graphic Novels
So, speaking of graphic novels… In addition to the The Hedge Knight graphic novels from yesterday, the first six issues of the comics will be published as A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel starting in 2012!
Writer Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson have teamed up to bring George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones in all its full-color glory. This hard cover edition of AGoT Volume 1 covers the first six of the planned 24 issues of the graphic series. Doing the math, there should be three more hard cover volumes to follow. The story here introduces the Starks of Winterfell, the King of the Realm, his dearly departed Hand, the lascivious Lannisters, the Brothers of the Night’s Watch, and the last heirs to House Targaryen.
Pre-order now and reserve your copy of AGoT: The Graphic Novel for March 27, 2012.
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Dunk & Egg Stories
If you didn’t know there was a series of novella spin-offs from the A Song of Ice and Fire books, I won’t tell. Now’s your chance to catch up with the rest of George R. R. Martin’s fans.
The Dunk and Egg novellas are available in two fantasy genre anthology collections: Legends and Warriors. The first story, The Hedge Knight, is buried within Legends: Stories By The Masters of Modern Fantasy (1998) follows the adventures of faux knight Dunk and amateur squire Egg. The Sworn Sword, continues the duo’s tale in Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King (2004). The third novella, The Mystery Knight, was recently published in Warriors (2010), edited by GRRM and Gardner Dozois.
This ASoIaF spin-off tale also spawned two graphic novels written by Ben Avery and illustrated by Mike Miller: Hedge Knight, Vol. 1 (v. 1)
Happy reading!
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Winds of Winter Sample
George R. R. Martin has a holiday gift for all his fans! And just what did you get him, hmmm?
Check out the official GRRM website for a free The Winds of Winter sample chapter. This sneak peak is an early chapter of Winds featuring Theon Greyjoy, but chronologically it takes place between some of the last chapters of Dance. Do not even begin to speculate when The Winds of Winter will be published. Every time someone asks that question, GRRM not only kills a Stark, but also delays the release by a month.
However, feel free to speculate on the Winds excerpt and what it means for the upcoming book over at Westeros!
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Dreamsongs Volumes 1 & 2
How’d you like the Mistfall story? So now you’d like to read more George R. R. Martin short stories, amiright?
For traditional paper book readers, check out these hardcover volumes of GRRM’s Dreamsongs, an anthology spanning several decades of his works. The collection was first published by Subterranean Press in 2003 as GRRM: A RRetrospective. Alas, these hardcovers are sold out and a bit pricey in the collectors circuit. However, the most recent prints are available as two volumes (three for the audiobooks). Volume One contains his earliest works of the 60s and 70s (A Song for Lya, The Second Kind of Loneliness, With Morning Comes Mistfall, among many others), while Volume Two features writings from the 80s and 90s (Skin Trade, The Hedge Knight ASoIaF novella, and more).
If you want the audio book version, Audible.com can help you out. I’m not sure if the audio volumes match perfectly with the written ones, so best get all three to be sure you get every last drop of storytelling!
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Game of Thrones RPG Video Game
You thought were done for the year, dincha? Well, there’s still some great GRRM gifts out there, that weren’t quite ready for this holiday season! Such as the Game of Thrones RPG video game, coming early next year from Cyanide Studios and Atlus Entertainment!
Pre-order the Game of Thrones RPG for PS3 or Xbox and Amazon you’ll lock in the lowest price available at the time of shipping, currently scheduled for March 6, 2012. This World of Westeros RPG title allows you to play multiple characters within the Game of Thrones storyline. Will you be a Ranger, Builder or Steward? Each role requires you serve the realm as a brother of the Nightwatch!
In the meantime, you can check out the interactive quizzes and other features online at the Official Game of Thrones RPG Website. Like the page on Facebook and unlock more content! Currently there are a bunch of game previews, character bios and promo downloads of The Wall.
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Game of Thrones Sword Letter Opener
Having trouble opening the multitude of holiday cards that have accumulated in the mail? HBO’s Game of Thrones shop can help!
This Game of Thrones letter opener is a miniature version of broadswords swung across the Realm. Surely it will help you tackle envelopes with ease. Prevent papercuts with this diminutive dagger from HBO’s exclusive line of Game of Thrones merchandise. Made of metal (yet not Valyrian steel), the letter opener comes with velvet pouch emblazoned with the GoT logo.
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Mistfall Free Download
So you’ve been shopping for hours and you’ve ground your teeth down to nubs with all the stress and the crowds and the PEOPLE you have to share your air with. Simmer down now and relax with this nice freebie for Audible.com members.
With Morning Comes Mistfall is a short story by none other than hallowed author, George RR Martin, and is included in the unabridged Dreamsongs collection of writings. This particular tale is narrated by Claudia Black and can be found in Dreamsongs Volume 1 of the GRRM anthology. It takes so little time to sign up for Audible. You should be ashamed of yourself if you don’t rush over and sign up, if you haven’t already just to get the copy of Feast narrated by Roy Dotrice.
Did I mention it’s FREE FREE FREE???
2011 Holiday Gifts Roundup: Battles of Westeros Game
So as if there weren’t enough games centered around the world of Westeros, Fantasy Flight offers another board game based on their 2 player strategy board game system, BattleLore.
Battles of Westeros features a playing board (the kind that you build your self out of hexagon pieces), a deck of cards, plastic figures, a bunch of dice and of course a dragon’s hoard of tokens. Use these items to conquer the battlefield. If you win the coin flip, you can chose House Stark, and the loser has to play House Lannister.
Follow the battle scenarios in the included Westeros Battle guide (straight from the books A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin), or design your own. The game should give you and your foe about an hour of play time.
