HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 trailer released

HBO have released the first teaser trailer for the second season of House of the Dragon, it's Game of Thrones spin-off/prequel show.

The second season of the show depicts the beginning of the Dance of the Dragons, the bloody civil war between two branches of House Targaryen after the death of the well-meaning King Viserys II.

The second season of House of the Dragon debuts in the summer of 2024.

HBO eyeing a GAME OF THRONES movie and TV series about Aegon the Conqueror

HBO are reportedly, strongly considering greenlighting another Game of Thrones spin-off/prequel show. This time around they are looking at the possibility of combining a feature film with a TV show about Aegon the Conqueror, the first Targaryen king who united the Seven Kingdoms and forged the Iron Throne.

Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya. Art by Roman "Amoka" Papsuev.

HBO's attitude to the Game of Thrones franchise has been a bit variable in recent years, with immense satisfaction of the massive commercial success of the final two seasons being undercut by a risible critical reception and heavy criticism of the series finale. The successful launch of the first successor show, House of the Dragon, last year seemed to restore some good cheer, but we then recently heard of the show's second season having its episode count slashed. Meanwhile, talk of further spin-off shows had become muted, amidst rumours that the ongoing complexities of the Warner Brothers/Discovery merger (which had resulted in companion streamer service HBO Max being gutted of almost all its drama material) had even spilled over to impact HBO's biggest success story.

This news seems to suggest that HBO is tilting back to reinforcing its investment in George R.R. Martin's vision. The story of the Conquest is more focused and concentrated than that of the Dance of Dragons, the civil war that unfolds during the events of House of the Dragon, and is more linear, with less preamble. It is a shorter linear story that might appeal to HBO, aware that some viewers had problems following the constantly-skipping timeline of the first season of that show. It could also be told faster, likely to be a relief to fans facing the dispiriting possibility that House of the Dragon might take eight years to produce just four seasons, three of them only consisting of eight episodes apiece.

The show would be based on the same book as House of the Dragon, 2018's Fire and Blood, although notably the Conquest gets far less coverage than the Dance of Dragons, so it would have to be expanded considerably to fuel a two-hour movie and several seasons of television.

Season 2 of House of the Dragon is now in production to air in 2024. HBO is pushing this new project into a fast turnaround but has not yet attached any writers or showrunners.

HBO unveils first trailer for HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

HBO has released the first trailer for its upcoming Game of Thrones spin-off/prequel series, House of the Dragon.

Beginning almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon charts a period of history in Westeros which at first glance seems prosperous and peaceful. However, disputes over the succession, driven by anger that the king's heir is a woman, drive the realm into two armed camps, with the threat of civil war looming. At this time in history, House Targaryen has almost twenty dragons at its service, with the dragonriders divided between the two factions, threatening a war that could be more destructive than anything seen previously.

The trailer starts with Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) gazing out to sea, possibly from the coast of the island of Dragonstone. We then see Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and his associate Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno) in front of Dragonstone castle, with Daemon bearing a dragon's egg. He confronts the King's Hand, Lord Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans). A voiceover asks, "What is this brief mortal life if not the pursuit of legacy?"

We then go back in time, quite a bit. We see a dragon and rider flying over the Red Keep in King's Landing as King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) summons a council of the realm's greatest nobles to declare their loyalty to him and his anointed heir, Rhaenyra (now played as a young girl by Milly Alcock). Rickard Stark, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) and Boremund Baratheon all swear fealty. The king's brother, Prince Daemon, is clearly angry and upset by this move. The king's cousin, Princess Rhaenys Velaryon (Eve Best), tells Rhaenyra that men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman sit the Iron Throne.

We then see Rhaenyra considering the Painted Table in Dragonstone (the one Stannis spent much time pondering over in the original series), a great gathering in the ruins of Harrenhal and tribute being brought. Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is brought before the king in the Red Keep whilst a dragon's egg is burned and is told by her father Otto, "We play an ugly game, you have the determination to win it." Members of House Velaryon arrive in the Red Keep where a celebration is being held, and then a funeral is held, possibly at the Velaryon stronghold of High Tide. We then see the older Rhaenyra wearing red and looking determined, whilst Alicent and Ser Crison Cole (Fabien Frankel). We then see a man being dragged before the Iron Throne (possibly Daemon) and a shot of a Kingsguard beating someone. We see Daemon and Rhaenyra facing one another and engaging in a ceremony involving the shedding of blood whilst Lord Otto watches on. Prince Daemon and his men draw swords, whilst Alicent appears to try to stab Rhaenyra with a dagger. We are then told in voiceover, "History does not remember blood, it remembers names" whilst Prince Daemon confronts a dragon.

Over this the music plays, which seems to be mostly new materials but incorporates elements of Game of Thrones' theme at the end.

Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, on which a lot is riding, debuts on HBO on 21 August this year.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON to hit the airwaves on 21 August

HBO have confirmed that their Game of Thrones prequel/spin-off series House of the Dragon will arrive on screens on 21 August this year.

They also released a number of publicity photographs for the upcoming show.

Olivia Cooke as Lady Alicent Hightower. The daughter of the King's Hand, Lord Otto Hightower of Oldtown, and an ambitious would-be player in the game of thrones.

Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon of Driftmark and Eve Best as his wife, Princess Rhaenys Velaryon. Rhaenys was once a potential heir to the Iron Throne but was passed over in favour of her cousin Viserys, something that still irks her. Lord Corlys, famed as the "Sea Snake," is the most accomplished sailor in the history of Westeros, having sailed to distant, enigmatic Asshai-by-the-Shadow, into the far north of Westeros and across the top of Essos. A proud and rich man whose wealth rivals or exceeds that of the Lannisters. Princess Rhaenys rides the mighty dragon known as Meleys, the Red Queen.

Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole. A skilled swordsman from Blackhaven in the Dornish Marches, his rude birth precludes high status. His formidable talent for battle sees him set his sights on a lofty goal.

Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen. The younger brother of King Viserys, he is everything his brother is not: short-tempered, passionate, fiery and often uncaring of the consequences. He chafes at his brother's limitations and yearns to prove himself in battle. He rides the formidable dragon Caraxes.

Rhys Ifans as Lord Otto Hightower of Oldtown. The ruler of the continent's second-largest city and a rich, influential ruler in his own right, Lord Otto has risen to the rank of the King's Hand, ruling the Seven Kingdoms in the king's name. A proud and ambitious man who sees the potential for dispute in the succession, and wishes to take advantage of the situation for his own ends.

Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Once called "the Realm's delight," the only child of King Viserys expects to inherit the Iron Throne, despite vehement opposition by those who believe that only a man can rule Westeros. Rhaenyra's iron will and ambition is not used to opposition. Her dragon is called Syrax.

Paddy Considine as King Viserys I Targaryen. The fifth king of the Targaryen dynasty, who inherited the throne from his grandfather. Like his grandfather, he is amiable and dedicated to peace. Unlike his grandfather, he is not used to making hard decisions to ensure peace and prosperity into the future, and his gentle nature is arguably building up greater trouble for later on. A good man but, perhaps, not a good king. He once rode Balerion the Black Dread, the steed of Aegon the Conqueror, but after Balerion died he never took another mount.

Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as the young Rhaenyra and Alicent, childhood friends whose paths in adulthood take them in a very different direction.

Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, a dancer from Essos who rises from obscurity to become a trusted ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen.

House of the Dragon begins almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. House Targaryen rules the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Peace and prosperity fill the realm, the result of the rule of the wise Old King Jaehaerys the Conciliator. His grandson and successor, Viserys I, is an amiable and pleasant king, but lacks his gift for hard politicking that kept the peace. The lack of a male heir encourages competition for the role of successor between the king's younger brother, the daring and dangerous Prince Daemon, and his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra. However, both their ambitions are endangered when the king takes a new, younger wife who soon gifts him with more children. Decades later, as the end of the king's reign approaches, the stage is set for a bloody conflict...one in which all sides command the power of dragons.

In addition to the above, the series also stars Graham McTavish as Ser Harrold Westerling, Ryan Corr as Ser Harwin Strong, Jefferson Hall as Lord Jason Lannister and his twin brother Tyland, David Horovitch as Grand Maester Mellos, Matthew Needham as Larys Strong, Bill Paterson as Lord Lyman Beesbury, Gavin Spokes as Lord Lyonel Strong, Wil Johnson as Ser Vaemond Velaryon, John Macmillan (and Theo Nate as a child) as Ser Laenor Velaryon, Savannah Steyn as Lady Laena Velaryon, Ray Strachan as Arthur Velaryon, Bethany Antonia as Baela Targaryen and Phoebe Campbell as Rhaena Targaryen.

The show is executive produced and showrun by Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, with George R.R. Martin executive producing and advising. The series is based on Martin's 2018 book Fire and Blood. Game of Thrones showrunner-writers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were not involved in this project.

The release date has an interesting twist: it puts the 10-episode show on at the same time as Amazon Prime's Lord of the Rings prequel series, The Rings of Power, which launches on 2 September.

HBO release teaser for GAME OF THRONES prequel series HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

HBO have unveiled the first teaser trailer for House of the Dragon, their prequel spin-off from Game of Thrones.

The series begins almost 200 years before the events of the original series and depicts a time period when House Targaryen is secure on the Iron Throne, with King Viserys I ruling over a land of plenty and peace. King Viserys has raised his daughter Rhaenyra to be his heir and the lords of Westeros have accepted her as such...until the king remarries and has more children, which throws the line of succession into doubt. With different factions feuding for the throne and the king's volatile and ambitious younger brother, Prince Daemon, also in play, the stage is set for war...a war where both sides possess dragons.

The trailer opens with Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) venturing down some stairs with a lit torch. He arrives on a moonlit beach, where he meets his niece Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy). We cut to an array of candles illuminating what appears to be the skull of Balerion the Black Dread, the greatest of the Targaryen dragons. Balerion died only a few years before the events of the series.

We then see Lord Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Lord of Oldtown and the Hand of the King, clutching his symbol of office, followed by King Viserys himself (Paddy Considine), sitting on the Iron Throne and clashing the hilt of one of House Targaryen's Valyrian steel blades. This is probably Blackfyre, since Dark Sister is in the keeping of his brother Daemon. Viserys, being a peaceable king, never wielded Blackfyre in battle and probably only uses it for ceremonial occasions, like Ned Stark with Ice.

The camera then cuts back many years to the very young Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), sitting on the Iron Throne, and then to a tourney, with a Targaryen knight in black (possibly Daemon) besting a foe in single combat. The camera then cuts to Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint), the Lord of the Tides and the the master of Driftmark, an even larger island in Blackwater Bay then Dragonstone. By the time of Game of Thrones the family has become relatively weak and obscure, but in this time period they are one of the richest and most powerful houses in Westeros, rivalling the Lannisters, due to their control of the Seven Kingdoms' maritime trade. Corlys is the most famed naval explorer in the world, having travelled to far Asshai, Yi Ti and the Thousand Islands. One of the most powerful lords in the Seven Kingdoms, he choices to back Princess Rhaenyra by offering her the hand of his son in marriage.

Subsequent scenes show Corlys arriving at the Red Keep with his infamous wife, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), who was once in line for the Iron Throne but passed over due to her gender. Suffice to say this makes her unhappy with tradition and keen to see her prospective daughter-in-law succeed to the throne.

The camera cuts to the Lady Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), a dancer from the far east who arrives in the Seven Kingdoms as a paramour to Prince Daemon and quickly rises high in his confidences to become his unofficial spymaster, and prospective Lady of Whisperers.

The scene then cuts to Lady Alicent Highertower (Olivia Cooke) clutching a dagger during what appears to be an important meeting; members of the Kingsguard including Ser Harrold Westerling (Graham MacTavish) and Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) are present behind her. I'm not 100% sure on this, but one of the other actors might be David Horovitch (Grand Maester Mellos), and the actor on the left hand side of the screen might be Jefferson Hall (who is playing both Lord Jason Lannister of Casterly Rock and his twin brother Tytos). This scene is interesting because it shows Harrold Westerling apparently being alive later in the timeline than is the case in the books.

The action then cuts to a tourney where knights bearing the arms of House Cole and House Tarly clash in the joust, whilst Princess Rhaenyra watches on. Notably, Rhaenyra is wearing red in this scene, indicating it might be the famous tourney where Rhaenyra wears red and black, leading to her faction for the throne becoming known as "the blacks," whilst her enemies wear green.

The scene then cuts to a sword fight between a white-haired young warrior and unknown assailant. The location is unclear, though it bears a slight resemblance to the Eyrie (the absence of the Moon Door and the fact the stairs are facing in the opposite direction suggests this is not the case). This is most likely a variation on the fight between Prince Lucerys Velaryon (one of Rhaenyra's sons) and Prince Aemond Targaryen at Storm's End, though Aemond himself does not seem to be present. The other fighter is possibly a retainer.

The trailer then ends with someone approaching the Iron Throne. Although the Red Keep set is almost identical to the one from the later series (although it has been moved from the Titanic Studios in Belfast to the Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden), with a different window, the Iron Throne itself is different, much spikier and more obviously covered in swords and blades, with other melted blades surrounding the throne. It's clearly the same throne, but the Red Keep's Health & Safety Department clearly get their hands on it at some point and file it down to the simpler design seen later.

HBO have also announced additional casting for the series: Wil Johnson (Outlander) as Ser Vaemond Velaryon, Lord Corlys's younger brother; John Macmillan (The Nevers) as Ser Laenor Velaryon, the only son of Lord Corlys; Savannah Steyn (Intergalactic, The Tunnel) as Lady Laena Velaryon, the only daughter of Lord Corlys; and Theo Nate (Time) as the younger version of Ser Laenor Velaryon.

Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, as the show now seems to be called, will air on HBO and HBO Max in 2022, probably somewhere around Easter or early summer.

GAME OF THRONES prequel HOUSE OF THE DRAGON starts shooting in April, adds new castmembers

The Game of Thrones spin-off/prequel, House of the Dragon, will start shooting in the UK in April and has added another four castmembers.

The new series is primarily set 170 years before the events of Game of Thrones (not 300, as keeps being erroneously reported) and tells the story of the Dance of Dragons, a huge civil war between two branches of House Targaryen, sparked when the king dies and leaves the Iron Throne to his daughter Rhaenyra, but her much-younger, half-brother Aegon II claims the throne as well, splitting the Seven Kingdoms into two camps. The resulting war is brutal because both sides command dragons in battle.

It sounds like the first season will actually start some time before the war and will show the countdown to the conflict beginning. Announced castmembers so far include Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith.

HBO's chief content officer, Casey Bloys, has also confirmed that HBO is moving forward with development of a second round of script and series ideas, in consultation with A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin (the first round resulted in House of the Dragon and a pilot for another series tentatively called The Longest Night, but that project did not proceed further). This second round of discussions includes ideas previously off the table, such as a TV series based on Martin's popular Dunk & Egg short stories. Bloys also confirmed there had been "really embryonic" discussions about an adult, animated series set in the world for streaming service HBO Max.

The newly-announced castmembers are as follows:

Steven Toussaint is a British actor active since the 1990s. He has a history in shows such as Lewis, Berlin Station, Doctros, CSI: Miami, Doctor Who and Pine Gap. In House of the Dragon he is playing the role of Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, the greatest sailor and explorer in the history of the Seven Kingdoms. Having sailed to the remotest corners of the known world, including the distant island of Ib and the mysterious city of Asshai beyond the Jade Sea, he has returned home to the islan dof Driftmark. He is one of the richest and most powerful mean in Westeros and an ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen.

Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor of long standing. He has appeared in films such as Twin Town, Notting Hill, Enduring Love, The Amazing Spider-Man and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. In television he is best-known for playing Mycroft Holmes on Elementary and Hector DeJean on Berlin Station. In House of the Dragon he is playing Lord Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King and the most powerful man in the realm behind only King Viserys. Lord Otto is a political enemy of Prince Daemon, whom he considers a threat to the realm due to his rash temper. Otto's daughter, the Lady Alicent, may be the most eligible would-be bride in the Seven Kingdoms.

Sonoya Mizuno is a Japanese-British actress, best-known for her collaborations with Alex Garland. She starred in his films Ex Machina and Annihilation, and his TV series Devs. Her other roles include La La Land, Beauty and the Beast, Crazy Rich Asians and Maniac. In House of the Dragon she is playing the role of Mysaria, a mysterious woman from Lys who becomes the paramour and confidante of Prince Daemon Targaryen. When war threatens, she reveals skills and talents that will become of great use to her lover.

Eve Best is a British actor best-known for playing Dr. Eleanor O'Hara in Nurse Jackie. She also appeared in The King's Speech as Wallis Simpson and The Challenger Disaster as Sally Ride. In House of the Dragon she is playing Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, the king's cousin who was married to Corlys Velaryon as a political marriage. At one time, Rhaenys was considered an heir to the Iron Throne but was passed over in favour of Viserys simply because of her gender. This has led to Rhaenys being dubbed "the Queen Who Never Was," a cause of some bitterness to her and her husband. Rhaenys is a dragonrider. Her steed, Meleys the Red Queen, is considered one of the most wily and cunning of the Targaryen dragons, and one of the fastest. 

GAME OF THRONES spinoff confirms Dance of Dragons setting

HBO's House of the Dragon, a prequel spin-off from Game of Thrones, has started its casting process, sending out information to casting agencies for the actors they are looking for. These confirm that the TV series will be based (at least initially) on the Dance of Dragons, a brutal civil war between two competing branches of the Targaryen family.

The casting sides are for the two matriarchal figures who initiate the war: Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the oldest daughter and child of King Viserys I Targaryen, and Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, the second wife and widow of the king. When Viserys dies, Rhaenyra claims the Iron Throne, a role she was groomed for by her father for life, whilst Alicent instead supports the claim of her son Aegon II Targaryen. The Seven Kingdoms are split down the middle, declaring for the "blacks" (Rhaenyra's party) or "greens" (Alicent's party). The war is particularly horrifying and brutal because both wings of the family still have their dragons, leading to dragon-on-dragon warfare in the skies over Westeros, the burning of entire towns and so forth.

The story will be adapted from the narrative of the Dance as explored in George R.R. Martin's book Fire and Blood. It also sounds like the story will expand on the preamble to the war, including the misadventures of Prince Daemon Targaryen (Rhaenyra's uncle and lover).

Reportedly early work for the show is being done under the codename "Red Gun," as the previous spinoff project The Longest Night was done under the codename "Bloodmoon" before it was cancelled. Although I suspect this might now be changed given it's leaked and House of the Dragon has been given a greenlight and full season commitment by HBO.

House of the Dragon will be executive produced by George R.R. Martin, Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal, with no involvement from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The show will start shooting in 2021 on location in the UK and Spain, and will air on HBO in 2022.

George R.R. Martin in London

I attended George R.R. Martin's talk in London last night and tweeted about some of the things he said, which, as is Twitter's wont, some people misinterpreted or misunderstood, so I thought it might be useful to clarify and expand on these points here.

The evening started with George being surprised by bigwigs from Nielsen, who gave him two special awards for sales of A Song of Ice and Fire in the UK, confirming that A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings have individually sold over 1 million copies each in the UK since the UK Nielsen Bookscan started in 2001. Given the UK's much smaller market than the US, that's a huge sales achievement.

Most of the interview (with historian Dan Jones) was standard stuff we've heard many times before: George's early career in short stories, working in television (bearing in mind we were in a church, it was surprising that George got so wound up by reminiscing over producers messing with his scripts that he dropped a couple of f-bombs), writing Avalon and getting the inspiration for Bran's first chapter etc.

George did expand on the writing of The Hedge Knight. Robert Silverberg got a ton of money to do Legends, an all-star anthology of the biggest names in fantasy. He'd recruited people like Terry Pratchett, Stephen King and Robert Jordan. Initially GRRM thought that he wasn't established enough in epic fantasy to contribute (as only A Game of Thrones had come out and he was deep in the writing of A Clash of Kings) but the money on offer was large and it was pointed out he'd get a good cross-pollination from other authors' fanbases reading his story and deciding to check out AGoT. George realised he couldn't write anything set during the series so did a prequel. When it was nearly done, George got a message from Silverberg telling him he'd heard that ACoK was going to be late and Legends couldn't be late for the marketing push it had been allocated, so Silverberg was going to drop George's story and had already commissioned a replacement. George ended up delivering his story on deadline, before several of the other authors had delivered theirs. That's why Legends has 11 stories rather than a more logical 10. George credits The Hedge Knight with helping massively boost the popularity of ASoIaF as a whole, as there was a very sharp increase in sales for ACoK compared to AGoT.

George noted that he had identified 12 possible stories/episodes from Dunk & Egg's life that could be expanded into short stories, including the 3 already published, so that's 9 potential further stories for the duo. From previous interviews we know that the next two - The She-Wolves and The Village Hero (both working titles) - are planned in some depth and The She-Wolves is partially or even mostly written, but GRRM wasn't sure what order to publish them in. Both are on hold until The Winds of Winter is done.

The first Game of Thrones spin-off TV show is still officially unnamed: Bloodmoon sounds like a codename (or - my supposition - the name of the pilot episode) and George still wants The Long Night (or, from another interview, The Longest Night). The pilot has finished filming and HBO will mull it over before pulling the trigger (or not) on a season order in a few months.

GRRM also repeated that the inspiration for the Red Wedding was the Black Dinner of Scottish history, in particular the more "colourful" account that the doomed clan leaders were serenaded with a death march song and had a black boar's head (the symbol of death) served to them at dinner before their execution, which most historians now seem to believe was a total fabrication ("But it sounded better"). His Red Wedding was the Black Dinner "turned up to 11" but the TV version was "turned up to 14."

Also a reiteration that Fire and Blood wasn't supposed to exist, it was supposed to be his contribution to The World of Ice and Fire in the form of sidebars that he wrote shortly after finishing A Dance with Dragons, but instead of 3,000 words he ended up submitting over 170,000 words (in earlier interviews he said closer to 300,000, but I wonder if the 170,000 is specifically the information on the Targaryens and the 300,000 includes all the info he contributed on the Empire of the Dawn, Iron Island history, etc, i.e. everything else in the book), as it had just all poured out of him in a few weeks (way back in the day he said it was around 2-3 months). His publishers were horrified, as it made World of Ice and Fire too big to be publishable. His co-writers Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson compressed almost all of it down and summarised it to fit into the book, leaving George with this big manuscript which he then chopped up to produce the three anthology stories (Princess and the Queen, The Rogue Prince and Sons of the Dragon). The motivation to publish Fire and Blood came when HBO started talking about prequel spin-offs and George realised the manuscript could be a potential source of new stories and information, although ironically the one HBO decided to proceed with had nothing to do with the Fire and Blood material.

Fire and Blood II is planned out - GRRM is relishing the chance to tell the story of Aegon IV and his mistresses - but not yet written, and can't be published until after ASoIaF as a whole is completed.

George did talk about his schedule in terms of the order of things he wants to publish things in. No dates were mentioned and the order sounded aspirational rather than set in stone:

1. The Winds of Winter (natch)
2. Dunk & Egg IV (either The She-Wolves or The Village Hero)
3. A Dream of Spring
4. Dunk & Egg V (either The Village Hero or The She-Wolves)
5. Fire & Blood II

There will also be more Dunk & Egg short stories after the fifth one. As mentioned before he has twelve potential story ideas mapped out which will span their lives. He didn't mention Summerhall or how it would work scheduling the D&E stories versus F&B2, as presumably one of them will spoil Summerhall for the other, as his "constructive vagueness" over the events from World of Ice and Fire presumably won't fly again.

The schedule may sound "ambitious" given the long wait between ASoIaF volumes and indeed D&E stories, but if was suppose The Winds of Winter is closer to being done than not, take on board that The She-Wolves is mostly done and he effectively wrote Fire & Blood I in a few months, then the only question mark is really on ADoS, how fast it can be done and if it's really going to be the last book in the series. None of these questions came up, so I guess time will only tell on those.

George rounded off the interview by saying his favourite dragon in the series is Balerion, the Black Dread, and his favourite sword is Dawn, and dropped a hint that there is something unusual about the sword as it is forged from a meteorite.

Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin

The greatest empire in the history of the known world was the Valyrian Freehold. From volcanic Old Valyria dragons and their riders conquered most of the world, until the Doom destroyed the empire in a single day of fire and smoke. Thousands of miles to the west, the Targaryen family was the only group of Valyrian dragonriders to survive the catastrophe. Rather than try to reclaim the homeland or seize the colonial territories, the Targaryens instead turned their eye west, to the great continent of Westeros where seven kings and queens vied for power against one another. Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya conquered the land with their dragons and gave birth to a dynasty that would rule the continent for nearly three hundred years.

The history of Fire and Blood is an unusual one. Way back in 2007, George R.R. Martin's publishers suggested they release a companion volume to the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin agreed, but his workload on the novel A Dance with Dragons prevented him from writing it immediately so he suggested that Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson (who ran the largest ASoIaF fansite, Westeros.org) write the book using the material they had collected together over the years from the books and some notes he had provided. When he finished Dragons he would write a few thousand words of introduction and sidebars.

As is now well-known, Martin took longer than expected to write and publish A Dance with Dragons, so it wasn't until 2012 that he finally delivered the sidebars and notes he'd promised...but rather than a few thousand words, he'd ended up writing about 300,000 words in the space of a few months. Although this encompassed many parts of the backstory and setting, the centrepiece was a massive section on the history of the Targaryen kings, running from Aegon the Conqueror to Aegon III in extreme detail. Needless to say, this was far too much and Garcia and Antonsson found themselves massively compressing that material for the book eventually published in 2014 as The World of Ice and Fire. The question of what to do with the original, uncut manuscript arose, with Martin pondering releasing it as a stand-alone book (his "GRRMarillion" as he joked, referencing Tolkien's The Silmarillion). In the event he left as reference material and used excerpts from it as short stories for his various anthologies (The Princess and the Queen, The Rogue Prince and Sons of the Dragon).

In 2018, with the sixth and (hopefully) penultimate novel in the series, The Winds of Winter, still incomplete, Martin's publishers have decided to finally release this material as a stand-alone book. It's a curious beast in several respects. Despite the comparison, it really isn't a GRRM version of The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion covers the entire mythology and history of Middle-earth, from its creation through the ancient wars between the higher powers to the desperate War of the Jewels between the exiled Noldor elves and the forces of the first dark lord, Morgoth. It covered thousands (if not tens of thousands) of years and channelled an epic combination of Homer, the Bible and the heroic cycle of Gilgamesh. This tome is instead much more like a fictional version of Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire or William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. It covers the first 135 years (or so) of the Targaryen dynasty in exacting detail, from Aegon's invasion and conquest of Westeros through the uprising of the Faith Militant against his children when they refused to give up the practice of incest through the long, eventful reign of Jaehaerys the Conciliator (who restored peace to the realm but only at grievous cost) and then to the massive, multi-sided civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons and its chaotic aftermath. The book cuts off at this point with the remainder of the story - the Young Dragon's invasion of Dorne, the debauched reign of Aegon the Unworthy, the five Blackfyre Rebellions, the tragedy of Summerhall, the War of the Ninepenny Kings and Robert's Rebellion - to follow in an as-yet unwritten successor volume;

How much you enjoy Fire and Blood will depend on several factors. The first is your pre-existing investment in the ASoIaF/Game of Thrones setting. If you really enjoy reading about fictional backstory, about the socio-economic underpinnings on why certain things happened, and if you like treating fantasy like real history, with the more lore and detail the better, then absolutely Fire and Blood is worth picking up. Although the broad strokes of the story are familiar from the main series, there's an absolute plethora of new information here, and dramatisations of key moments from the history of the Seven Kingdoms (when the high and somewhat remote style of much of the book gives way to almost novelistic out-takes of key scenes). There's also lots of completely new material, minor episodes, even small wars and skirmishes which have gone unmentioned so far in the main series.

If, on the other hand, you take the view that only as much backstory and worldbuilding should be there to support the main narrative at hand, and anything not related to that is irrelevant, then absolutely Fire and Blood is not for you. There's relatively little material in this book which I think will become relevant in the main series, a couple of minor elements aside.

As a narrative, Fire and Blood is more lively than I was expecting. Martin's structural conceit is that the book is the work of Archmaester Gyldayn, an archmaester preparing a history of the Targaryen dynasty in the time of King Robert Baratheon, and Gyldayn is happy to discuss both the dry, traditional histories and also the more salacious rumours of unreliable eyewitnesses (most entertainingly Mushroom, a court fool from the reign of Viserys I through Aegon III who kept careful records on everything that happened, although he often added an unnecessarily ribald slant). On occasion, Gyldayn seems to give up on trying to find the truth and instead presents several theories various maesters and historians have put forward, inviting the reader to work out what happened themselves (and providing fodder for many years of fan forum and Reddit discussions to come).

It helps that Martin stretches a few muscles here that he hasn't used in a while. In particular, in one downright disturbing episode (and arguably the book's highlight) he gets to use his skills as a horror writer that he hasn't fully deployed since the likes of Fevre Dream and The Skin Trade. In another he channels a history of maritime exploration and gives us a particularly intriguing mystery surrounding the very nature of the world itself.

The other thing that Martin does well here is engaging with thematic ideas. One of these is the sheer random chance of history, the number of times that history moves onto a completely different course due to one or two unforeseen events. If anything, Martin lowballs this compared to real world history, probably to make it feel more convincing. Another key point is the price and value of peace. The long reign of Jaehaerys I, the Conciliator, has been mentioned before but usually skipped over in any kind of detail. We know that Jaehaerys restored peace after the insanity of his uncle and the religious wars with the Faith, and we know that he built the Kingsroad and created the first codified set of laws, but apart from that the histories tend to skip almost immediately to his immediate descendants and their civil war, the Dance of the Dragons. But Martin fills the rule of Jaehaerys (which was really a co-rule by Jaehaerys and his sister-wife, Good Queen Alysanne) with intrigue, the aforementioned unusual mysteries and an interesting cohort of supporting characters. Jaehaerys and Alysanne's lives are difficult ones and they pay as much, if not more, of a price to keep the Seven Kingdoms in peace and prosperity than their ancestors and descendants would through war. Arguably this is the book's finest triumph, making the bits when people aren't smashing in each other's faces with morningstars as gripping and interesting as the bits where they do.

The level of detail does vary from episode to episode and I suspect people may have foregone the extremely lengthy account of Aegon III's regency in favour of more detail on the Conquest, or even on a prologue detailing the Targaryen's origins in Valyria (here very lightly skipped over), but I was surprised that the pacing held up as well as it did over such a long book (this book is as large as Martin's full-blown novels A Game of Thrones and A Feast for Crows, for comparison purposes, and isn't far off A Clash of Kings) given its non-traditional nature.

I would say one major omission (although this may be just my thing) is the lack of any maps. In fact, in at least the UK edition, there aren't any maps at all, not even the ones normally present in the novels. This is a major omission as the military campaigns make frequent mention of locations and places as the site of battles and the absence of maps sometimes makes it harder to visualise what's going on. It does have excellent illustrations by Doug Wheatley, however.

Fire and Blood (****) is something of an unorthodox book and one that is certainly packed with surprises, intrigue, action and occasional thought-provoking moments regarding historical processes, although the pace occasionally flags and some episodes feel like they didn't need quite so much detail. But if you enjoy the world of A Song of Ice and Fire and want to delve much more deeply into the lore and backstory, the book is a must buy. If you are less interested in that aspect of the setting, or irritated that Martin delayed The Winds of Winter by a few months to write this, then it's certainly not an essential, immediate purchase. The book is available now in the UK and USA.



Full disclosure: I am a moderator on the Westeros.org website and the creator Atlas of Ice and Fire website, so my investment in this work may be higher than most. Whilst I have tried to have been as honest as possible in my review, you may want to bear these factors in mind.

Cover art for George R.R. Martin's FIRE AND BLOOD revealed

Bantam and HarperCollins Voyager have revealed their cover art for the US and UK editions of George R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood (although the UK cover is apparently not finalised yet and there may be some changes prior to publication).

The American cover art for Fire and Blood

Fire and Blood is the first part of a lengthy history of the Targaryen rule of Westeros, covering the period from the Doom up to the regency of King Aegon III, the Dragonbane. The book covers the Targaryen Conquest, the misrule of Maegor the Cruel, the Faith Militant Uprising, the long rule of Jaehaerys the Conciliator and the chaos and blood of the civil war known as the Dance of Dragons.

The book was originally written across three or four months back in 2012 as part of The World of Ice and Fire, but Martin ended up producing way too much material for that book, leaving his co-authors Linda Antonsson and Elio Garcia, Jr. to summarise this material. This is the full, unexpurgated text and incorporates the sections previously published separately as The Sons of the Dragon, The Rogue Prince and The Princess and the Queen.

Martin's plan originally had been to hold back the entire history (including the as-yet-unwritten second half, covering Aegon III's reign through Blackfyre Rebellion, the War of the Ninepenny Kings and the Mad King's downfall in the War of the Usurper, aka Robert's Rebellion) until after A Song of Ice and Fire was completed. However, the material he'd already completed for the first half runs almost as long as A Game of Thrones itself, 989 manuscript pages and roughly 270,000-odd words (compared to AGoT's 1,088 manuscript pages and 298,000 words), so the work would have been published in two volumes anyway. Martin has no plans to write the second book as yet since it would by definition include major spoilers for the Dunk & Egg stories and also for A Song of Ice and Fire itself.

The (working) UK cover art for Fire and Blood.

Martin also confirms that work remains ongoing on The Winds of Winter, but seemingly confirmed in the same blog post that the book will not be published in 2018.

Fire and Blood will be published on 20 November this year and will feature 75 black-and-white illustrations by Doug Wheately.

German cover art for FIRE AND BLOOD VOL I by George R.R. Martin released

The German cover art for Fire and Blood, Volume I has been unveiled.

This book is the full and unedited text of the material that George R.R. Martin wrote for The World of Ice and Fire quite a few years ago now; GRRM was only supposed to write a few sidebars but ended up writing over 300,000 words of text for the project in the space of just a couple of months (fake history, it turns out, being far easier to write than prose). Elio Garcia, Jr. and Linda Antonsson had to massively edit down and summarise that material in The World of Ice and Fire itself, but Martin has released three excerpts of that massive block of material as stand-alone novellas: The Princess and the Queen (published in Dangerous Women), The Rogue Prince (published in Rogues) and The Songs of the Dragon (published in The Book of Swords).

This book contains all of that material and much more, telling in some 600 pages the story of the Targaryen dynasty from its days in ancient Valyria before the Doom through to the reign of Aegon III, with the bulk of the material believed to focus on the Conquest and the Dance of Dragons.

The remainder of the Targaryen reign will be covered in Fire and Blood, Volume II, which is as yet unwritten. According to Martin it will not be published until A Song of Ice and Fire itself is completed, presumably because the second volume would have to fully cover both the events surrounding the Dunk and Egg stories and how they end (particularly the Great Fire of Summerhall) and Robert's Rebellion, important revelation about which remain to be made in the novels to come. Of course, it would also be an incomplete history without knowing the ultimate fate of the last scions of the Targaryen dynasty, such as Daenerys.

The German edition of Fire and Blood will be published on 12 November 2018; the UK and US editions appear to be scheduled for October, so I'd expect to be seeing the cover art for those shortly.

Martin recently confirmed he is taking a social media break to focus on finishing the projects on his plate, including The Winds of Winter (the sixth and apparently-penultimate Song of Ice and Fire novel); although previous commentary suggested that he didn't envisage Winter being published before Fire and Blood I, he has also said that he could finish the novel within "months" (back in 2015, but still). Based on the turnaround time of the previous novels in the series, The Winds of Winter should be on shelves around three months after it is completed and handed in.

Update on THE WINDS OF WINTER and FIRE AND BLOOD

After a very lengthy spell of silence on the subject, George R.R. Martin has finally provided an update (if a short one) on two A Song of Ice and Fire projects, including The One That Everyone Wants To Know About.

Artwork by Chase Stone, from The World of Ice and Fire.

No, The Winds of Winter is not done, and George confirms that completion is still months away, finally ruling out a 2017 release date. The good news is that George thinks that a 2018 release for the book is therefore more likely, but nothing is set in stone.

Interestingly, George also provides a update on Fire and Blood, the once-mooted "GRRMarillion" which was originally planned to come after the series was completed. This book draws on over 300,000 words of new material that GRRM wrote for The World of Ice and Fire, most of which was dramatically cut down in editing for the final book. With something like 80,000 words on the Dance of Dragons alone (from which the novellas The Princes and the Queen and The Rogue Prince have been drawn), this was always going to be a hefty project and, going through it, George and his publishers realised that it was going to have to be a two-volume project, with the first volume (containing well over 100,000 words, probably closer to 200,000) already effectively complete.

As a result, Fire and Blood: Volume I, being a history of the Targaryens from Aegon the Conqueror to Aegon III the Dragonbane, will be published in late 2018 or early 2019. Fire and Blood: Volume II, which will cover the period from Aegon III to Robert's Rebellion and the death of the Mad King, will follow several years later, presumably after A Dream of Spring is completed. This possibly means that the second half of the history will be a large larger and in more detail than originally envisaged, so for those who've been beginning for a prequel story about the Rebellion, this may be the closest you'll get (I also suspect this will have to follow Spring so George can give the full, "unedited" account of the war without having to worry about any more spoilers).

GRRM concludes his update by saying that we may therefore get two new Westeros books in 2018, if things go well (or maybe none at all, if they do not).

New SONG OF ICE AND FIRE short story to be released in October

It's been confirmed that George R.R. Martin will be releasing at least one new Song of Ice and Fire story in 2017, with it being confirmed that a short story will be released in Gardner Dozois's anthology Book of Swords, due out in October.

Maegor the Cruel, by Michael Komarck

Martin will be joining authors such as K.J. Parker, Matt Hughes, Ken Liu, Ellen Kushner, Scott Lynch, Robin Hobb, Daniel Abraham, Garth Nix, C.J. Cherryh, Elizabeth Bear and Cecilia Holland. It's certainly an impressive line-up.

Speculation is rife over Martin's story. By far the most likely prospect is The Sons of the Dragon. This is part of Martin's colossal (novel-sized) history of the Targaryen Dynasty, Fire and Blood, which was supposed to be his contribution to The World of Ice and Fire but grew out of control. This would be the third such extract from this material, following The Princess and the Queen (published in Dangerous Women) and The Rogue Prince (published in Rogues).

The Sons of the Dragon is the detailed story of the two sons of Aegon the Conqueror, Aenys and Maegor, half-brothers who were both fated to become kings. This narrative was completed several years ago and Martin has already read extracts from it at conventions, making it a shoo-in for the role. The story also revolves a lot around the Targaryen Valyrian steel sword, Blackfyre, which fits the title of the novella.

However, Westeros.org has also postulated that a new Dunk and Egg novella could be a possibility. This is surprising. George started writing the fourth Dunk and Egg novella, under the working title The She-Wolves, back in 2009 before The Mystery Knight was even published but put it on hold until The Winds of Winter was completed. Martin also seems to have decided to reconsider the project at some point, suggesting that another story called The Village Hero might come first, but again not until The Winds of Winter was completed.

Some may take this as a possibility that The Winds of Winter is nearing completion and Martin has finished one of these two stories as his time frees up, but that may be optimistic. Of course, Martin could have changed his mind (especially if he had a burst of inspiration for the story), but I think The Sons of the Dragon or another Fire and Blood extract is much more likely.

We should have more information soon.