New info on THE LANDS OF ICE AND FIRE

Bantam have released some more info about the forthcoming Lands of Ice and Fire map project.

Images removed at creator's request.

The cover and maps shown above are mock-ups. The actual images don't appear to be from A Song of Ice and Fire and are probably placeholders. Actually, it looks like a map from Neil Gower (the excellent cartographer best-known for his maps for The Malazan Book of the Fallen), which should not be taken to mean that Gower is the artist for the map set (the artist has not yet been announced).

The Lands of Ice and Fire is a boxed collection of twelve maps. Whilst we don't know the full list, we currently have the following maps listed:

• A 'known world' map stretching from Westeros to Asshai (a brand new map).
• A full map of Westeros, combining the North and the South.
• A detailed map of the lands Beyond the Wall (likely the same as the map in the books).
• A map of the Free Cities region (likely the same as the map from A Dance with Dragons).
• Valyria and Slaver's Bay (likely similar to the map that first appeared in A Storm of Swords).
•  The Dothraki sea and the Red Waste (a brand new map).
• The Qarth region and the lands of the far east (a brand new map).
• A city map of King's Landing (likely based on the map from A Clash of Kings).
• A city map of Braavos (a brand new map).

Apparently eight of the twelve maps will be all-new. Based on the list above, that's not possible (five the maps are reprints, so there can only be seven new maps), so that actually leaves three more brand new maps unaccounted for. Additional city maps - Oldtown, Volantis, Qarth and Meereen all seem prime candidates - are possible, but one possibility raised in an earlier product description was the idea of 'historical' maps. Maybe a map showing the Seven Kingdoms' borders at the time of Aegon's invasion? Or a map of the Valyrian Freehold on the eve of the Doom when it was at the height of its power? Intriguing.

The Lands of Ice and Fire is currently scheduled for publication on 30 October 2012.

However, we won't have to wait until then to get a glimpse of these new maps. Season 2 of Game of Thrones launches on 1 April and HBO will update their Viewer's Guide website on the same or following day to include 'the first official map of Essos ever published'. The Season 2 opening title sequence has also been tweaked to include Daenerys's adventures into hitherto unmapped lands, such as the Red Waste and Qarth.