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 According to Martin it will not be published until A Song of Ice and Fire itself is completed, presumably because the second volume would have to fully cover both the events surrounding the Dunk and Egg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.

Spanish cover art for THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE

This, it has to be said, is quite tasty:

Interestingly, for a book based firmly on the novel canon, they seem to have gone with an image inspired by the TV show...unless the artist knows something we don't?

The World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia, Jr. and Linda Antonsson

The World of Ice and Fire is a companion volume to George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels, primarily written by Elio M. Garcia, Jr. and Linda Antonsson, the founders and administrators of the Westeros.org website who have also worked as continuity guides and fact-checkers for the last couple of novels in the series. Martin himself provides has written several sections of the book and provided vast reams of notes on other matters. The book is both a handy compendium of existing information from the novels, novellas, comics and websites and also a way of shining a light on many areas of both the backstory and world that otherwise would not have come to light.

Let me get this out of the way to start with: I've been a moderator on Westeros.org since 2005 and been impatiently waiting for this book since it was announced seven years ago. I was pre-disposed to like it, and hope I can be fair in my appraisal of the book.

Companion guides to fantasy worlds have had a fairly mixed rep, with Terry Pratchett's various Discworld companions being excellent, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time one being reasonable (atrocious art aside), Raymond Feist's being terrible and the various Tolkien ones being all over the place in quality. The World of Ice and Fire is definitely one of the better ones. The artwork is superb, the amount of new information for dedicated fans is almost overwhelming and the attempt to give the text an in-universe origin (a young maester writing a brief primer on the world for the notoriously impatient King Robert Baratheon) makes for a less dry reading experience than it might have been. There are negatives, some of them significant, but this is certainly required reading for a dedicated ASoIaF fan. Fans of the TV series will also likely find much to enjoy here, but it is not a given that the information in the book will also be canon for the TV show.

The book is divided into several sections. The first deals with the history of Westeros and Essos, initially focusing on the ancient history and mythology of the series before the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror. There is a very lengthy section dealing with the reigns of the Targaryen kings and the various challenges and conflicts they faced, ranging from a religious uprising to the devastating dynastic conflict known as the Dance of Dragons to several ill-fated attempts to invade Dorne to Robert Baratheon's rebellion that forms the immediate backstory to the novels. The rest of the book is dedicated to exploring the world itself, from the individual regions of Westeros to the Free Cities and very distant places like Sothoryos, Asshai and the Thousand Islands. The book's conceit is that the young Maester Yandel (Garcia and Antonsson) has written the book a sort of Rough Guide to Westeros and Essos, whilst drawing on material from Master Gyldayn (Martin). Gyldayn is regarded as more authoritative but excerpts from his work are rare, since they were destroyed in the fire at Summerhall. However, he does give us some of the more evocative moments in the book, such as his detailed account of Aegon's Conquest.

The general prose style is reasonable, although prone to repetition. It is not uncommon to see a phrase used and then re-used just a few paragraphs later. It is a common writing mistake, but it's unusual to see it happen quite so often in a book which had a much longer editing period than most. The other problem is that Yandel likes to cover almost every claim in the book with lengthy caveats. Things that happened long ago are unreliable because of the time that's passed and things that happened more recently are unreliable because different historians have different takes on the subject, informed by their biases and political leanings. Clearly Martin and his co-authors want to avoid nailing things down too decisively in case he changes his mind for future novels, and in the case of the ancient mythology and pre-history stuff that's understandable, but for more recent events it's a little more frustrating. We certainly still get a lot of new information - the Targaryen family tree alone swells to a huge size with the influx of new names and characters in this book - but how much of it is 100% reliable is left up in the air. However, the book does sometimes treat this with a nod and wink: by sometimes describing an event as mythological or untrue, but when combined with the reader's knowledge of the novels it becomes clearer what conclusions the reader is being directed to.

The artwork is of course superb, with Ted Nasmith's castle artwork being a highlight (particularly a depiction of the early, ramshackle King's Landing shortly after its founding and a later depiction of the capital in all its walled glory). The only weak part are the maps. Michael Gellatly's maps are pretty to look at, but are of limited utility. They have quite a few errors on them: Saltpans is shown as being part of both the Riverlands and the Vale, and the Riverlands is shown as extended past of Gods' Eye when the text indicated that their border is at the lake itself. The Inn at the Crossroads is also repeatedly shown as being south of the Trident in clear defiance of the text in the novels and every previous map of the setting printed to date. The errors mean that the primary new information shown on these maps - the borders of each region and their major exports - cannot be relied upon, which is a shame. It's also frustrating that the locations of many frequently-mentioned castles (like Raventree Hall) remain unconfirmed and major geographical features (like the Mander's massive tributary) remain unnamed. Minor quibbles? Certainly, but still irksome. More disappointing are the continued absences of maps for castles like Winterfell, Castle Black and Harrenhal, which feel years overdue at this point. There's also the fact that the in-book world map is almost bereft of any useful information and stops at Qarth, whilst many details are given on lands east of Qarth. A more cynical reviewer might suggest that the publishers want you to buy both this book and The Lands of Ice and Fire collection to complement one another.

There is also an issue with the disparity of information given on different regions. The North gets short shrift, which is quite surprising, whilst the longest region chapter is given to the ironborn. Whilst packed with new details and it certainly fleshes out one of the less-detailed regions of Westeros, the fact that we get more new information on the Greyjoys than the Starks or Lannisters seems a bit odd. Even this is then weirdly-presented: we get tons of new info on obscure internal ironborn conflicts from centuries ago, but only a couple of paragraphs on the Greyjoy Rebellion - a critical bit of backstory for the novels - itself. It is also very strange that various obscure parts of the world are fleshed out in sometimes remarkable detail (the new information on Yi Ti and its relationship with the island of Leng is surprisingly thorough) but Slaver's Bay and Qarth, major locations from the novels themselves, are completely glossed over.

Still, once you get used to the book's eccentricities, there is much to enjoy in The World of Ice and Fire (****). The detailed accounts of Maegor's cruel reign, the Dance of Dragons and Daeron's invasion of Dorne are engrossing and it's satisfying to finally get the chronology of Aegon's Conquest and the repeated invasions by the Blackfyre Pretenders all nailed down. Fan theories will receive a lot of new fuel from this book, from the claim that the seasons used to be normal before some event threw them out of balance (actually suggested by the original cover blurb to A Game of Thrones, but only finally presented in-world here) to the relationship between the Mad King and the Lannisters to the exact nature of the Long Night, the War for the Dawn and the Others. Yes, it's a book more for hardcore fans and in fact the exacting detail of it may be off-putting for casual fans more in the mood for a casual primer, but if you fall into that bracket this is essential reading. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

UK cover art for THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE

HarperCollins Voyager have unveiled their cover art for The World of Ice and Fire, the forthcoming companion volume to A Song of Ice and Fire:

The book will be released on 28 October this year in the UK.

WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE completed, gets new cover art

George R.R. Martin has reported that the writing part of The World of Ice and Fire has been completed, with the book handed over to the editors for the last artwork to be added. Assuming no problems with the art, GRRM anticipates the book being published in October this year.

The book will feature a detailed history of Westeros (particularly focusing on the Targaryen era) as well as geographical information. Originally the book did not feature much of Essos and the east, but at popular request the writers have added more detail to those sections.

Expanding on GRRM's information over at Westeros.org, co-author Elio 'Ran' Garcia confirms that the bulk of the work was done last year and most of GRRM's writing time since has been dedicated to The Winds of Winter, returning to finish off a couple of last pieces for the world book before the copy-edit.

The book will be over 150,000 words in length with well over 200 illustrations, the majority new (although Ted Naismith's castle artwork from a calendar a couple of years ago will be reused, as will some material from the card game). The book will probably come in between 300 and 400 large-format pages in length.

Work on The World of Ice and Fire began way back in 2007, so it'll be good to finally see it hit the shelves and hopefully clear up a lot of questions about the world of Westeros and Essos.

The Wertzone Awards 2013

Best Novels

1. The Adjacent by Christopher Priest
Priest releases his second novel in two years after a decade-long gap. The Adjacent is ambitious, taking a complex idea, tying it into knots and allowing the reader to untangle it. Bolder and braver even than The Separation, this is Priest at his best.

2. River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
Kay returns to his alternate China for a more lyrical and thought-provoking novel than its thematic predecessor, Under Heaven. Beautifully written, pitched perfectly and with memorable characters.

3. Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins
A strong debut, painting a vividly atmospheric picture of an alternate-reality Soviet Union. Let down a little by more being the first half of a longer novel than a book in its own right, but still a riveting read.

4. Ancilliary Justice by Anne Leckie
A new, distinctive voice in space opera. Leckie fuses the 'social science fiction' of Ursula LeGuin with a dash of Iain M. Banks to create something intriguing and fresh.

5. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
A series most people had written off a decade ago is finally brought to an appropriately epic finale. There are a few more unresolved minor plot points than might be wished, but based on the history of 'sequels by other hands' this is far better than anyone had any reason to hope for or expect.

6. Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear
A sensitive, well-written and imaginative take on fantasy, reimagining Central Asia as a hotbed of magical intrigue and struggle. A startling mix of the original and familiar.


7. The Ace of Skulls by Chris Wooding
Wooding brings his fantasy airship series to a conclusion. Arguably the most out-and-out 'fun' fantasy series of the last few years, and its ending does not disappoint.

8. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
A six-year wait for this book resulted in raised expectations which did not work for some, but Lynch's clever ticking narrative timebomb over Locke Lamora's true identity and the reasons for his unhealthy obsession with a childhood crush is brutally effective. Sharp and funny, the novel is let down by a lack of stakes in the central election storyline, but Lynch leaves things on a compelling knife's edge for the next few books in the series.

9. On the Steel Breeze by Alastair Reynolds
A step-up from Blue Remembered Earth, with better characters, a stronger plot and a return to Reynolds's more traditional milieu of interstellar space. It's still not up there with his earlier novels, but this is still a compelling, well-structured read.

10. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Time travel and serial killers meet in a story which is brutally effective, if a bit too lacking in character motivation or explanation.

11. The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham
Abraham's morally ambiguous fantasy, influenced equally by Babylon 5 and the history of the Medicis, passes its middle volume with aplomb.

12. The Year of the Ladybird by Graham Joyce
A slight let-down from Joyce: hauntingly atmospheric, well-written and completely convincing in its depiction of a place and time, but the overall impact of the novel is slight.

13. Fade to Black/Before the Fall/Last to Rise by Francis Knight

A complete trilogy, you say? Released all in one year? Impressive. Knight's debut series is rough-around-the-edges, but its magepunk stylings and main storyline are effective.

14. Queen of Nowhere by Jaine Fenn
Fenn returns to the quality of her debut novel after a couple of slightly disappointing releases in the Hidden Empire series.

15. The Grim Company by Lucas Scull
This epic fantasy debut may be more Abercrombie than Abercrombie, but it's still an effectively-paced, entertaining action story.

16. The Art of War/An Inch of Ashes/The Broken Wheel by David Wingrove
David Wingrove's Chung Kuo relaunch has run into trouble, with Corvus considering putting the series on indefinite hold after the eighth volume is released next year. This is troubling news for Wingrove's fanbase (some of who have been waiting for more than a decade and a half for the series to be completed according to the author's intentions) and newer readers impressed by the breadth and scale of Wingrove's vision. However, one can't help but think the main problem was the decision to split the series into twenty very short novels rather than ten reasonably-sized ones.

17. Parasite by Mira Grant
Above-average prose for this kind of schlock thriller make Parasite an enjoyable read, but the plot twists are spelled out in fifty-foot-tall neon letters 200 pages before they take place and the premise (itself reminiscent of Greg Bear's Blood Music) is rather credulity-straining.

18. The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett
Brett scored an impressive debut with The Painted Man but has struggled ever since to match it, with its increasingly bloated sequels featuring less and less character and plot development in favour of repetitive explorations of tedious backstory. Hopefully he can turn it around in the upcoming fourth volume of the series.

The Wertzone Award for Pulling It Out of the Fire

Bringing a series beloved by millions of readers to a successful, satisfying conclusion after the death of the original author is a very tall order indeed, but Brandon Sanderson managed to pull it off. Yes, the fates of a few minor spear-carriers may be left unresolved, but overall this was a satisfyingly explosive end to a series twenty-three years in the making.

The Wertzone Award for Best Books Read in 2013 Regardless of Release Date

Four books, four five-star reviews. No other series in this blog's history has managed to pull off that feat. The Acts of Caine is a mind-blowing fusion of science fiction and fantasy, exploring character and thematic ideas against a backdrop of action and philosophy. It also manages to be 'grimdark' without resorting to cheap misogyny (most of the major characters in the series - bar Caine himself - are female). It's also bewildering how each of the four volumes in this series are written in a somewhat different manner to the rest, even occupying a different subgenre. Inventive, imaginative and unrelenting.

Best Games

1. XCOM: Enemy Within
It shows how lacklustre this year was that an expansion for a year-old strategy game was the best title released. Enemy Within expands upon XCOM: Enemy Unknown's compelling gameplay but adds new options, missions and ideas to make for a very different-feeling (but equally excellent) game.

2. Metro: Last Light
An excellent sequel to Metro 2033, with a better-pitched difficulty level, a more tragic storyline and a more convincing-feeling world.

3. Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches
Dishonored was one of the best games of 2012 and these two DLCs were perfect expansions, adding interesting new ideas and storylines to that game without overloading it. The journey through Daud's soul was almost as gripping as Corvo's journey in the original game and some of the new locations and challenges exceeded the original game in atmosphere and playability.

4. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
I had mixed feelings about 2010's Wings of Liberty, but the (ridiculously) late first expansion was a much better game on almost every level. The storyline was more original and interesting, with the Zerg made into a more compelling player-race. Some major storylines stretching back all the way to 1998 and the original game are finally concluded, leaving this feeling less like the middle volume of a trilogy it really is.

5. Shadowrun Returns
One of the earliest big successes of Kickstarter, Shadowrun Returns brings old-skool gameplay to modern audiences. A more linear experience than was originally expected, blighted by the absence of a save-anywhere feature, but a solid storyline, great writing and some really good combat overcome the problems to make for a highly enjoyable RPG. However, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the engine.

6. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Dragonborn
Dragonborn sees Skyrim bid farewell to the world with style. Providing a large, new island (or an old one, if you're familiar with Morrowind's expansions) to play around in, Dragonborn is the whole Skyrim experience encapsulated in a smaller, more manageable location with some great new ideas (even if the dragon-riding mechanic is rather terrible) and some unusually interesting (by Bethesda's standards) characters.

7. Tomb Raider (2013)
Lara Croft's first adventure in several years is a clean reboot, ably written by Rhianna Pratchett and focusing on characterisation and motivation as well as combat and exploration. Old-skool fans may be put off the lack of actual tomb-raiding in favour of combat, quick-time events and cut-scenes, but Tomb Raider makes these often-annoying mechanics work in its favour to create an enjoyable experience.

8. BioShock Infinite
One of the most visually impressive games of the year, with a highly imaginative setting and some excellent combat set-pieces. The storyline is interesting and the complicated ending works really well. However, even moreso than its forebears, BioShock Infinite is screaming out to be an RPG and seems to only sulkily settle for being an action game. The restrictions of having to lay waste to everything in sight and not being able to interact with characters badly chafe in this title, but if you can deal with this there's plenty of fun to be had.

9. Company of Heroes 2
Company of Heroes 2 is a pretty solid sequel to the original, genre-redefining RTS. However, a weaker storyline and poorer writing hamper the single-player side of things, whilst the multiplayer is not (yet) as compelling an experience as the original game. A playable and enjoyable sequel, but also one that feels a little bit too conservative.

10. Total War: Rome II
Creative Assembly are no strangers to releasing incomplete, buggy games and patching them up later on, but after two solid launches in a row, fans believed that their troubles were behind them. Instead, Rome II launched in a poor state. Four months and eight patches later the game is far more playable than it was at launch and a compelling, rich strategy experience awaits the patient. But there's still a few too many problems to be able to fairly assess the game so far.

11. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified
2K's almost embarrassed attitude towards this game didn't bode well prior to release, and this turned out to be a bit of a shame. It may be Mass Effect 3 with an XCOM skin draped over it, but it still features excellent combat (better than ME3's, it has to be said), some great team mechanics and some good ideas that even the main XCOM series hasn't replicated yet (like being able to split your soldiers between different missions simultaneously). The storyline is also more twisty than you might expect, with some nice ideas emerging towards the end. Certainly not a classic - it's a little too repetitive - but definitely a worthwhile shooter.

11. Space Hulk (2013)
Stomping around a space hulk with a bunch of Terminator Marines and destroying everything in sight is, as it has always been, brilliant fun. However, a near-vertical difficulty curve and an overreliance on pure luck over strategy become frustrating long before the final missions are reached.

Re-releases

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut
One of 2011's best games is re-released with its most egregious flaws - most notably the annoying boss fights - reworked into something far more palatable. What was once a flawed gem is now improved to the status of stone-cold classic.

Brutal Legend: PC Edition
This interesting RTS/RPG/action hybrid always felt more suited to the PC than console, so it's a relief to finally see it arrive on that platform. However, the failure to rework the awkward controls into something better-suited for a strategy game means that it's still failing to fulfil its potential

Best TV Series

1. Orphan Black (Season 1)

Packing more plot and character into its pilot than most shows manage into a whole season, Orphan Black arrived with a bang and never looked back. It's relentless pace never came at the expense of character development and even a couple of iffy supporting performances couldn't dent the achievement of lead actress Tatiana Maslany, whose charisma and jawdropping versatility gave us no less than seven of the best performances of the year. The only question is whether the show can maintain the same level of quality into its second season, due next year.

2. Game of Thrones (Season 3)
Game of Thrones's third season delivered two of TV 's strongest moments of the year, with the explosive finale to the fourth episode only exceeded by the horrors of the Red Wedding in the ninth and tenth episodes. Elsewhere the show occasionally struggled for pacing and some storylines were revisited a bit too often (the 'torturing Theon' storyline went on way too long, with a very dull denoucement), but overall this remains a compelling, if controversial, adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novels.

3. The Returned (Season 1)
This French drama was deliberately-paced, beautifully-characterised and awesomely-shot, with its central mystery unfolding slowly but inexorably over the course of eight episodes. An overreliance on ambiguity and a lack of explanation for what's going on suggest this Gallic Twin Peaks could turn into Lost rather too easily if the upcoming second season doesn't deliver some anwers, but for now this was one of the most intriguing new shows of the year.

4. An Adventure in Time and Space
A drama about the real-life origins of Doctor Who might sound a little dull, but Mark Gatiss's script and David Bradley's astonishing central performance as First Doctor William Hartnell are both gripping. A galaxy of excellent supporting actors and some fiendish attention to detail result in a more-than-fitting tribute to the show's 50th anniversary.

5. The Walking Dead (Season 3.5)
This really should have been better than it was, with David Morrissey's Governor finally providing the zombie drama with a much-needed main bad guy and antagonist. However, some bad pacing in the latter part of the season and too many episodes (they should have remained at 12 episodes; don't go to 16 unless you have the story to fill it) resulted in too much filler.

6. Agents of SHIELD (Season 1.0)
One of the most eagerly-awaited new shows of the year had a very ropey beginning, with badly-written scripts and confused-looking actors eventually giving way to a more compelling, pulp action show by the mid-season cliffhanger. SHIELD really needs to go for the jugular on its return, however, if it isn't to be judged a failure.

7. Doctor Who (Series 7.5 and specials)
In its 50th anniversary year, Doctor Who should really have been firing on all thrusters. However, a typically muddled, confusing and badly-explained story arc from Steven Moffat, a surprisingly subpar script from Neil Gaiman and rather poor use of new companion Clara (played with enthusiasm by Jenna Coleman) resulted in a half-season to forget. The actual 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, was surprisingly good with some great performances and a clever way of tying in with the show's ongoing storylines. However, this good work was undone by the Christmas special which addressed outstanding plot holes with all the grace and subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Roll on the Peter Capaldi era and, hopefully, a much-needed change of production team.

8. The White Queen
A historical drama about the Wars of the Roses should be absolutely brilliant, with the rich characters and gripping political intrigue of the era ripe for historical exploration. Instead, this show was completely all over the place tone-wise, with pacing that was shot to hell, excruciatingly awful battle sequences and highly variable performances. At rare moments, some strong promise shone through, but ultimately this show wasted its terrific potential on cheap melodrama.

9. Under the Dome (Season 1)
Utter, utter drek. Stephen King's rather poor novel becomes a poor TV show, complete with dire acting, predictable plot twists and a total lack of plot coherence or logic, culminating in a tepid cliffhanger. This really should have been cancelled, but we will have to endure a second season next year. Hopefully, against all likelihood, the showrunners can turn this around and allow it to start fulfilling its actually interesting premise.

Best Film

1. Pacific Rim
It's a commentary on how weak 2013 was in the cinema - and how few films I saw - that a movie about big robots hitting big monsters with rocket-powered arms was the most enjoyable thing I saw this year. Still, Guillermo Del Toro's kaiju movie was a satisfying romp, mixing in some awesome character names (only Idris Elba could pull off a guy called 'Stacker Pentecost') and a nod at a multi-national response to an international threat (most of the film is set in Hong Kong and few of the castmembers or characters are American). Del Toro also showed Michael Bay how it's done, with massive CGI set-pieces which you can actually follow thanks to some well-judged direction. The film was also notable for the difference in reaction across the world: the USA was lukewarm, but Chinese audiences brought in more than $100 million by themselves, helping the film recoup its budget and making a sequel likely.

2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Peter Jackson's second Hobbit movie is the least-faithful Tolkien adaptation he's helmed, but it's still an enormous improvement on An Unexpected Journey. Better action beats, much better pacing and more inventive use of the dwarven characters result in a movie that doesn't feel as long as it is (unlike the stupefying three-hour length of the original, which felt more like six). However, there's some decidedly iffy effects moments, too many superheroics from Legolas and an ill-judged cliffhanger ending.

3. The World's End
The third and final movie in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy is also the weakest, despite some solid direction by Edgar Wright and some surprisingly good performances from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. However, the film mishandles its tonal shift from friendship drama to sci-fi action flick and too many gags fall flat. Entertaining, but ultimately much less memorable than either Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz.

4. Iron Man 3
Having Tony Stark suffer from PTSD in the aftermath of The Avengers is a bold idea that could have resulted in a fascinating movie. Instead, it's not long before we descend into action mayhem with more explosions than you can shake a stick at. As usual, Robert Downey Jnr. remains the most watchable actor on the screen, single-handedly preventing the movie from sinking into disposability. He even handles an ill-judged 'cute kid sidekick' subplot with some skill. Ultimately, watchable and fun

5. Star Trek - Into Darkness
It's likely that the J.J. Abams Star Trek movies are going to be remembered as films featuring a great cast desperately searching for a good script. There are brief moments in Into Darkness when it feels like they might just get it, but the ill-conceived decision to turn the movie into Wrath of Khan fanfiction (only nowhere near as good) blows it out of the water before the final act.

6. Man of Steel
Another case of a really good cast let down by an execrable script, though here the film starts going down in flames as soon as the action moves from Krypton to Earth. Structurally weak, with some awful dialogue and some of the most unconvincing CGI put on screen in a decade or more, Man of Steel is only saved from total disaster by Russell Crowe's steely-gazed presence and charisma.

Note: I haven't seen Gravity or Thor: The Dark World yet.

The Wertzone Missing in Action 2013 Award

For once, this wasn't the fault of George R.R. Martin but of some artists who allegedly were a bit late in turning in their work (though GRRM took advantage of this to deliver tens of thousands more words of material than originally planned). Originally announced in 2008 and with multiple release dates mooted and then missed, this book is currently scheduled - and finally seems a lock - for November 2014. From early sneak previews, it looks like it's going to be more than worth the wait with both compelling new backstory material and some terrific artwork.

The Wertzone Award for Best Genre-Inspired Career Boom

This may have more properly begun a decade-and-a-half ago with his casting as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies, but 2013 was really a bumper year for 71-year-old David Bradley. His character of Walder Frey was responsible for the most shocking moment of television of the year on Game of Thrones, whilst his performance as William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time was simply sublime. He even fitted in appearances in The World's End and Broadchurch before ending the year on a high, being cast as the lead on Guillermo Del Toro's TV series The Strain.

The Wertzone Award for Special Achievements in Eyebrow Acting

 

'Nuff said.

George R.R. Martin update

Jet City Comics, the new comic-publishing imprint of Amazon, have picked up the reprint rights to George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg graphic novellas. They will be reprinting The Hedge Knight on 5 November 2013 and The Sworn Sword on 21 January 2014. Random House will also be getting the gang back together to produce a new comic book adaptation of The Mystery Knight, for publication later in 2014.

In addition, HarperCollins Voyager in the UK have announced they will be publishing a British edition of Dangerous Women in December. This book will contain a new Song of Ice and Fire novella, The Princess and the Queen, about the civil war known as the Dance of Dragons. Martin is still hoping to publish The World of Ice and Fire in Spring 2014, though officially its release date remains November 2014.

No news on the Big One, unfortunately. The last word on the book from the start of the year was that it was about a quarter done and Martin had either completed or put aside all other projects (including the fourth Dunk and Egg story) to focus on it, later remarking he was making 'rapid progress' against the threat of HBO bearing down and catching up with him. Recent casting announcements for Season 4 of Game of Thrones seem to confirm that rather more of the Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons storylines will be featured than first thought, meaning that they will likely reach Winds of Winter material by 2016, if not the end of the 2015 season.

A sneak peek at the Dance of Dragons

Thanks to Tor.com, both a sneak peek and a review of the new George R.R. Martin Song of Ice and Fire novella is now available. The Princess and the Queen is a maester's account of the Dance of Dragons, the brutal civil war that took place between differing branches of the Targaryen family approximately 170 years before the events of A Game of Thrones. This civil war almost wiped out the Targaryen family and most of its dragons (the few surviving dragons died a few years after the war).

Rhaenyra Targaryen, the titular princess of the story.

The Princess and the Queen will be published in the Dangerous Women anthology, due out in December this year. At 33,000 words it's the longest story in the collection and clocks in at rather more than a tenth of the length of A Game of Thrones itself. It's a condensed version of a much longer story that Martin plans to publish in a collection - working title 'The GRRMarillion' - once A Song of Ice and Fire is fully completed. The World of Ice and Fire (due next year) will draw on both in its own account of the Dance of Dragons.

Martin is currently working on The Winds of Winter, the sixth and (hopefully) penultimate volume of A Song of Ice and Fire itself. In recent interviews he has said he is writing quickly, but not fast enough to give any indication of a release date.

Maps for THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE

It's been confirmed that the map artist for The World of Ice and Fire is Michael Gellatly. Gellatly has set up a new website and posted some teaser images for his work on World, though only bits of maps or heavily obscured images for copyright reasons.

Copyright Michael Gellatly

We're still hearing that The World of Ice and Fire may be released in April or May of 2014 to tie in with the fourth season of Game of Thrones. However, until this is confirmed the official date remains November 2014.

Update on THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE update (update)

The World of Ice and Fire - the companion volume to George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels co-written by Martin and the admins of the Westeros.org website - has once again had its release date (provisionally) changed.

This time, happily, the book has been brought forwards. Originally mooted for a late 2013 release, the book was dropped back a full year to a late 2014 release. However, George R.R. Martin said at the weekend - and since confirmed by his UK publisher - that the book was now aiming for a Spring 2014 release (possibly to tie in with the start of Season 4 of Game of Thrones). Westeros.org has also issued an update, noting that the release date change is not yet final and a drop-back to late 2014 is still possible, but they are seeing if they can make Spring 2014 work as a new date.

In addition, George has admitted to going somewhat overboard with his plans for the book. Whilst Linda Antonsson and Elio Garcia wrote the bulk of the book, it was always planned for GRRM to write a certain amount of material for it. This plan was originally for about 50,000 words, but he ended up writing - or providing - 250,000 words material and notes. Antonsson and Garcia have condensed and summarised this material for the book, whilst another chunk has been sectioned off to become the stand-alone short story The Princess and the Queen, to be published in the Dangerous Women anthology. Martin's original material has been preserved and GRRM and his publishers are musing using this material for a 'GRRM-arillion' type of book later on. This is a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a detailed narrative history of Middle-earth which is more remote and removed than a novel, but not so distant, dry and academic as a bald plot summary. The 'GRRM-arillion' project will not be worked on or released before A Song of Ice and Fire itself is completed.

It appears that Tor.com has gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick and released a seriously misleading article about the book. To clarify their points, The World of Ice and Fire has always - since late 2007 when it was originally announced - been an illustrated companion book focusing on the history of Westeros and Essos. It has never been an A-Z encyclopedia. The focus and format of the book has not changed. It is not now a multi-volume affair, it's what it always was intended to be. The 'GRRM-arillion' project is a totally new and separate idea, not The World of Ice and Fire II: The Wrath of Ran. And yes, the book's official date has dropped back to November 2014, but all parties involved are trying to make Spring 2014 work as the new date.

WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE delayed by a year

Unfortunately, news has arrived that The World of Ice and Fire, the Song of Ice and Fire companion volume, has been delayed by a full year. According to co-author Elio Garcia, this is because plans for the book have become more ambitious, with a desire from the authors and publishers to make the book bigger and include more artwork. The book is already in an advanced stage of completion, but the decision to include more material could not guarantee a late 2013 release date, so rather than risk a last-minute delay, the decision was made to hold back the book until 2014 to give the writers and artists more time to complete their work.

The late 2014 release date is because such large books sell best in the pre-Christmas market, so releasing the book earlier in 2014 (which should be feasible) wouldn't make much commercial sense.

WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE cover art and release info

Bantam have released some more info about The World of Ice and Fire, including the cover art and a confirmed release date of 5 November 2013.

More details on THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE

Bantam Books have released more info about The World of Ice and Fire, the companion guide to A Song of Ice and Fire. The book is due for publication on 29 October 2013 and will be 288 pages in length. They have also published several sample pages from the book.

The blurb:

With all new history and material from the maester himself, The World of Ice and Fire is a must have for both long-time fans, new readers, and viewers of the HBO series, Game of Thrones. This lavish, fully illustrated, full-colour book will be the comprehensive guide to the mega-bestselling world that George R.R. Martin has established in his Ice and Fire books.

This will be the comprehensive guide to all things Game of Thrones and beyond. From the pre-history to the coming of the First Men, through the reign of the Targaryen kings and Robert's Rebellion, this guide-co-written by George R.R. Martin and the immensely knowledgeable founders and keepers of the www.westeros.org site-will tell series readers old and new all they might want to know about the history and culture of Westeros and the lands beyond the Narrow Sea. And there is a 30-page excerpt of all-new history invented by George solely for this volume.

ALL-NEW MATERIAL CONTRIBUTED BY GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: Much of the content of this book is all-new historical material, created by George exclusively for this volume—including a 30-page excerpt written by George.

FULLY ILLUSTRATED: The full-colour guide will be filled with gorgeous original artwork and maps commissioned exclusively for this edition.

THE HBO SERIES CONTINUES ON MARCH 31, 2013: HBO reported that 3.9 million viewers saw the inaugural broadcast of season 2, with 6.3 million tuning in among all of the network’s broadcasts for the night—a 53 percent gain from its freshman season average and a 27 percent rise from its previous series high. And with the DVD of season two releasing the month before, they only expect demand to rise.

SURGE IN NUMBERS: Since the show’s premiere, novel sales have increased exponentially, proving that people who get a taste of this world are keen to devour all there is about it.

SUCCESS OF THE NOVELS: To date, there are over 21.5 million copies of A Song of Ice and Fire series in print, and over 4.5 million in eBook sales.

APP-ORTUNITIES*: This will serve as the perfect companion volume to the Ice and Fire app, released in November 2012.

A WINNING TEAM: George’s co-authors on this book, Elio Garcia and Linda Antonssen, are the founders of the www.westeros.org site, and probably know more about this world than anyone save George. In fact, they are the folks George calls when he forgets certain series details.

HOLIDAY GIVING: Perfectly timed for the holiday season, this volume is the ideal gift for the George R.R. Martin fan in your life.

TIMING: The MM edition of A Dance with Dragons will also be published in Fall 2013, which means extra publicity for George R. R. Martin.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Amazon, Martin confirms that he is continuing to work on The Winds of Winter, and is making progress ahead of HBO catching up with him (although noting that the gap is less than it was before).

* The Wertzone does not condone such use of bad puns.

The full story of the Targaryen Conquest in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

From readings at two conventions, George R.R. Martin has revealed the full story of Aegon the Conqueror's invasion of Westeros and the subjugation of the Seven Kingdoms. This material (not yet 100% finalised) will form a small part of The World of Ice and Fire, due out in late 2013.

 Rhaenys, Aegon and Visenya Targaryen, with their swords Blackfyre and Dark Sister.

Before the Doom

The Valyrian Freehold expanded into the western coastal reaches of Essos some two centuries before the Doom. They colonised the island of Dragonstone in the Narrow Sea, establishing a stronghold there (presumably from which they could trade with the Seven Kingdoms). The Freehold was ruled by the Lords Freeholder, powerful noble families. The most powerful of these were the Dragonlords, those families which controlled and rode dragons in battle. The Targaryens were Dragonlords, but far from the most powerful.

Dragonstone, the island stronghold of the Targaryens.

Twelve years before the Doom of Valyria, Lord Aenar Targaryen's daughter, Daenys, had a powerful prophetic dream that Valyria would be destroyed. Aenar heeded the warning and moved his entire family and their five dragons to Dragonstone. Closely allied families, including the Velaryons and Celtigars, went with them, settling on other islands in the Narrow Sea. Sure enough, the Freehold was annihilated in a single night of fire and storm, with great earthquakes and volcanic eruptions laying waste to the empire.


Before the Conquest

What followed was known as the Century of Blood (or Bleeding Years). Valyria's colonies and conquests broke away. The nine Free Cities were formed, only to fall into warfare against one another. The Targaryens chose not to intervene, hoarding their own strength. Of their five dragons, four died, leaving only Balerion the Black Dread as the survivor. However, two more eggs hatched. These dragons were named Vhagar and Meraxes, like Balerion named for the Valyrian gods of old.

The Targaryen Lords of Dragonstone were:

• Aenar the Exile, who led the Targaryen exodus to Dragonstone.
• Gaemon the Glorious, son of Aenar, brother-husband to Daenys the Dreamer.
• Aegon and Elaena, the children of Gaemon and Daenys, who ruled together as kin and a couple.
• Maegon, the son of Aegon and Elaena.
• Aelix, Baelon and Daemon, the sons of Maegon.
• Aerion, the son of Daemon, married to Lady Velena of House Velaryon.

Aegon the Conqueror was born in 27 BC (Before Conquest), the son of Aerion and Velena. Tradition demanded that he should marry his elder sister, Visenya, but instead he chose to marry both (Visenya and his younger sister, Rhaenys). All three were dragon-riders before they were wed.

When still young, Aegon intervened in Essos, helping the Westerosi Storm King and the rulers of Braavos defeat a Volantene attempt to conquer the southern Free Cities. By doing so, Aegon showed he had no interest in reestablishing a Valyrian empire in Essos. Some time afterwards, Aegon began plotting an invasion of Westeros. Allegedly, he visited some Westerosi cities and castles in secret, noting the strength of each king and each lord, and the loyalty they commanded. Some maesters dispute this, however, with the official histories claiming that he never stepped foot in Westeros before the invasion. Whatever the truth, it is known that Aegon had commissioned an immense table shaped like a map of Westeros, from where he could make his plans.

The major events and battles of the Targaryen Conquest.

The Targaryen Conquest

Two generations before the Conquest, the ironborn had overrun and conquered the Riverlands under House Hoare. They commissioned the construction of a vast castle on the banks of Gods Eye, which was nearing completion before the Conquest began. King Argilac Durrendon of Storm's End (known as Argilac the Arrogant) was concerned that once the castle - Harren's Hall or Harrenhal - was completed, the ironbron would seek to invade his kingdom. He offered Aegon an alliance against the ironborn, offering to seal it with the hand of his daughter, Argella, in marriage. Aegon refused, instead suggesting that Argella could marry his bastard half-brother (and closest friend), Orys Baratheon. Argilac took that as an insult and cut off the hands of Aegon's envoy, sending them back with a message that these were the only hands a bastard could expect from the Storm King.

Aegon took counsel with his advisors and sisters. They sent ravens to each of the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms, informing them that there would only be one king in Westeros. Those that swore fealty to Aegon would be spared, otherwise they would be destroyed. The seven rulers at this time were:

• Torrhen Stark, King in the North.
• Ronnel Arryn, King of the Vale, a young boy whose mother, Sharra Arryn, ruled as Regent.
• Harren Hoare, King of the Iron Islands and the Riverlands.
• Lorren Lannister, King of the Westerlands.
• Mern IX Gardener, King of the Reach.
• Argilac Durrendon, King of the Stormlands.
• Mariya Martell, Princess of Dorne, a blind, balding woman of 80. Known as the Yellow Toad.

In response, Aegon received an offer of marriage and alliance from Queen Regent Sharra Arryn, and an offer of alliance from Princess Mariya of Dorne against the Stormlands, but no offers of fealty. Aegon ignored these and took his dragons and soldiers, landing at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush with less than 3,000 men. The nearby castles of Stokeworth and Rosby surrendered without giving battle. Duskendale and Maidenpool surrendered after brief engagements. Their troops were added to Aegon's own forces.

Aegon proclaimed himself Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and King of Westeros. He named Orys Baratheon the Hand of the King and ordered him to take Storm's End. Aegon sent Rhaenys south with him. He ordered the Targaryen fleet (under Daemon Velaryon) to sail north and capture Gulltown, sending Visenya with them. Aegon himself, after establishing a redoubt on the tallest hill overlooking Blackwater Bay, then marched west.

A series of engagements followed with mixed results. The Arryn fleet engaged the Targaryen fleet and destroyed it, with Daemon Velaryon slain. Visenya burned the Arryn fleet, but was apparently unable to salvage the situation. However, the destruction of the Arryn fleet did trigger a revolt by the Sistermen against the Vale. Orys suffered a defeat in battle, but was able to resume the march on Storm's End with minimal losses. Aegon and Balerion burned Harren the Black's longships (presumably on the Trident and Gods Eye) before their army reached Harrenhal.

 Harrenhal after its devastation by Aegon and Balerion.

Aegon's success inspired Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun to rebel against the ironborn. The rebellion spread and he was joined by the Brackens, Mallisters, Blackwoods and Freys. Their army marched south and joined Aegon's, allowing him to besiege Harrenhal with 8,000 men. However, Harren was unmoved by Aegon's threats, believing his walls would keep out even Balerion. Aegon ordered him to surrender or his line would be extinguished at sunset. As predicted, Aegon took his dragon high over the walls and burned the towers of Harrenhal until they melted. Harren died in fire.

Meanwhile, Argilac led his army from Storm's End. Whilst a huge storm raged, he attacked Orys's foces in what became known as the Battle of the Last Storm. Outnumbered two-to-one, Orys was outflanked, but Rhaenys and her dragon, Meraxes, plugged the gap. Orys came face-to-face with Argilac and slew him in combat. Argella proclaimed herself the Storm Queen and barred the gates of the castle, but her own followers betrayed her and handed her over to Orys, naked and in chains. Orys treated her with courtesy. For taking Storm's End he was named Lord of the Stormlands and given Argella's hand in marriage by Aegon, allowing him to found House Baratheon.

With word of Aegon's successes spreading, King Lorren of the Rock and King Mern of Highgarden met and formed an alliance. 55,000 men marched north to meet Aegon's 10,000. Rhaenys and Visenya rejoined him at Stoney Sept and the two armies met somewhere in the northern Reach. The three dragons set fire to the dry grass, spreading chaos and confusion through the allied armies. 4,000 would die from the fire and another 1,000 in battle. Aegon only lost 100 men. King Mern and his sons were all slain, so Aegon accepted the surrender of his vassal, Harlen Tyrell, Steward of Highgarden, as well as Lorren's. He confirmed the houses Lannister and Tyrell as rulers of the Westerlands and the Reach, respectively.

Aegon prepared to march on Dorne, but instead received word that King Torrhen Stark was marching south with 30,000 men at his back. Aegon led 45,000 troops to meet him at the Trident. Torrhen had initially planned to attack, entertaining a notion by his bastard half-brother Brandon Snow that they could assassinate the dragons by stealth. However, upon seeing Aegon's army and his dragons Torrhen lost heart. He sent Brandon and three maesters to negotiate before kneeling and swearing fealty.

Queen Sharra Arryn assembled an army at the Bloody Gate, planning to defy Aegon further. However, Aegon tried a different tack. He sent Visenya to the Eyrie by dragon. The Queen Regent rushed out into the courtyard to find her young son playing with Visenya and agreeing to surrender as long as he got to have a ride on her dragon. Thus the Vale also came under Aegon's control.

Rhaenys led an army into Dorne. However, the Dornish refused to give battle, instead melting away into the mountains and deserts, returning only to launch guerrilla raids on the army. Rhaenys captured holdfasts to no avail, as their people had already fled, leaving only the elderly and infirm. Frustrated, Rhaenys flew directly to Sunspear to demand Princess Mariya's surrender. Mariya instead informed her that, "This is Dorne. You are not wanted here, return at your peril." Rhaenys replied that she would return with "Fire and blood," but Mariya simply replied, "Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken." The Targaryen army withdrew from Dorne, leaving the country untaken.

Oldtown's surrender marks the end of the War of Conquest, and the beginning of the Targaryen reign.

Aegon led the remainder of his forces to Oldtown. The High Septon prayed for seven days and seven nights in the Starry Sept before concluding that Aegon Targaryen was the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms. Lord Banfred Hightower accepted that decision and threw open the gates to the city. Thousands of commoners and lords alike cheered Aegon's entry to the city. Aegon declared that the date of his rule - and of the Targaryen rule of Westeros - would be taken from that day. However, rather than make his capital at Oldtown he announced the construction of a new city around his old fort on the Blackwater: King's Landing. He took the swords of all the lords he had defeated in battle (but not those who surrendered with honour, like the Arryns and Starks) and melted them in Balerion's breath to form the Iron Throne.

WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE news plus some new GoT pics

Melisandre (Carice van Houten) and Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane).

Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham).

The World of Ice and Fire, a companion book to the Song of Ice and Fire novels, will have its release date announced in the near future. The companion volume, co-written by Martin and the admins of the Westeros.org website, will feature new artwork and never-before-seen maps, as well as a wealth of new background information.

Note: information changed at the request of the publisher.

Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie).

Meanwhile, HBO have released a plethora of new publicity images for Season 2 of Game of Thrones. These can be seen on the Winter is Coming website here.

Lord Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide).

There's also a nice new map of Westeros and Essos doing the rounds. This map is the version that can be seen on the new enhanced and annotated ebook version of A Game of Thrones.


This map is notable as the first official map which shows all of Westeros combined with the map of the Free Cities region seen in A Dance with Dragons (rather than fan attempts to do the same). Intriguingly, a 'world map' showcasing even more of Essos (including, I'd imagine, at least Slaver's Bay if not Qarth and even Asshai) will - apparently - appear in The World of Ice and Fire.

Meanwhile, for those who want to dine out in the Seven Kingdoms (warning: food hygiene standards in Westeros may fall short of the ideal), this book is coming soon:

Warning: the 77 course option is not recommended to those who don't want to die instantly from cardiac failure.

More new UK hardcover editions of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

I reported a few weeks ago that HarperCollins Voyager are releasing new limited edition hardcovers of A Song of Ice and Fire. This has now been followed by the announcement that they are also releasing new, mass-market hardcover editions of the first four books of the series.


This is an unusual move. In the UK, it is standard practice for the hardcover editions of novels to be withdrawn from sale upon the release of the mass-market paperback. This drives sales of the hardcovers (since British customers know they only have 6-12 months to grab it before it vanishes, probably forever). This is in contrast to the USA, where the hardcover can often remain in print alongside the paperback for many years, or indeed permanently. In the UK only mega-selling books and series get hardcover reprints, such as Tolkien, J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown.

This news means that A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows are getting their first UK popular hardcover reprints since publication. The new cover art uses the marble-white/cream colour design of the Dance with Dragons hardcover, combined with the heraldic designs from the existing paperback editions. In addition, A Storm of Swords has been recombined into one novel (it is currently two volumes in paperback).

The first two books will be on shelves on 11 November 2011, whilst the latter two hit the shelves on 5 December. There is no word on if the hardcovers will continue the practice from the recent B-sized paperback reprints of using confusing and sometimes inappropriate maps (Game of Thrones having the totally superfluous map of Slaver's Bay from Storm of Swords in it, for example). Hopefully they'll straighten this out and use more appropriate images in the hardcovers.

In additional news, The World of Ice and Fire companion book (currently hoped to be released in late 2012) still does not have a UK publisher. Considering the immense success of the novels in the UK following the arrival of the HBO series and A Dance with Dragons, it is surprising that Voyager have not signed up the book yet. However, there will be another companion book related to the TV show published next year. The publisher for that has not yet been confirmed.