George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 128

See You in Carolina

 Tomorrow morning my executive minion Raya and I will be off again, this time to ConCarolinas in Charlotte.

  http://concarolinas.net/

 If you're in the neighborhood, swing by the Charlotte Hilton and join the fun.  Parties, panels, autographing, speeches... did I mention the parties?  Sometime in there I hope to find some good barbeque.

 And I'll be doing a reading.  This time, I think, a selection from the forthcominh WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE, for all you fake history fans.


 

Win A Rogue

ROGUES, the latest gigantic crossgenre anthology from yours truly and Gardner Dozois, is scheduled for release on June 17... but three lucky fans can snag a copy early.

Patrick St. Denis, fantasy blogger and degenerate Dallas Cowboys fan, is having one of his infamous giveaways at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist.  To enter, just go to


http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2014/05/win-copy-of-rogues-edited-by-george-r-r.html





For those who'd like a taste of the treats awaiting them, Pat has also put up an excerpt from Patrick Rothfuss's outstanding novella.  You can find that one here:http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2014/05/extract-from-rogues-edited-by-george-r_13.html

I've Got This

A useful new service for dealing with friends and loved ones who come late to the party.

Coming Soon

... to Santa Fe.

Two Poems

Memorial Day Weekend is almost upon us.  Traditionally that's a huge day on the SF convention calendar, and one that usually finds me off at one con or another.  Indeed, Parris flew off this morning, and is now in Kansas City with old friends and new, preparing to enjoy Conquest, one of our very favorite small regional conventions.  (I'm not with her.  I'm at home working.  But don't feel too sorry for me, I get my own con next week, when I travel to Charlotte for ConCarolinas).

Much as I enjoy the holiday aspects of Memorial Day, however, I try not to lose sight of the day's true meaning -- to remember those who have fought and fallen in defense of our country.

I was never a warrior.  I served in VISTA, not the Army or Air Force, and I opposed the Vietnam War.  But I have written a good deal about war and warriors, and read even more about those subjects.  Together with Gardner Dozois (a Vietnam era vet), I edited WARRIORS, a mammoth anthology of stories about war and the men and women who fight them.  The glories and horrors of war lie at the very center of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE.

Way back in grade school, like many other lads of my generation, I was taught to recite one of the classic poems of those subjects: Alfred, Lord Tennyson's CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.   I don't think they teach that in grade school any more, so maybe some of you younger folks have never heard it.

Stirring stuff, even now.   As a kid, I found it enormously moving.  I can still remember chanting those lines in class, surrounded by the other kids, all of our voices joining as one.  (Do they still recite poems aloud in grade school?  Somehow I doubt it).

It was not until many years later, however -- until college -- that I first encountered the reply to Tennyson's ode, penned a generation later by Rudyard Kipling.  It moved me to tears the first time I read it, and it still does, all these years later.  Some things never change (sadly, sadly)... and with the VA scandal and America's treatment of its own veterans very much in the news, Kipling's poem remains as topical today as it was then.

So here's the second act, the part that comes after the glory.  Kipling's THE LAST OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

 So on this Memorial Day, here's to the poets... and to all the warriors.  Let us honor the dead, by all means... but let us remember the living too.

Ten Thousand Ships

For all you fans of fake history, we've got another taste of THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE up on line, to help whet your appetite for the main course.

"Ten Thousand Ships" is a brief excerpt from the history of the Rhoynar, the final fatal war between the proud princes of the river and the dragonlords of old Valyria.  You can find it on the Westeros site at

http://www.westeros.org/ASoWS/News/Entry/World_of_Ice_and_Fire_Excerpt_The_Rhoynar

courtesy of my collaborators and archivists, Elio and Linda.

Enjoy.

(The full version, in the worldbook, will carry the tale of Princess Nymeria's odyssey considerably further, but you'll need to wait till October for that one).

Leaving Los Angeles

I have been in LA all week, taping the introduction for the ROGUES audiobook, appearing on CONAN, taking meetings... and signing books.

Angelenos, take note.  If you are looking for an autographed copy of one of my books, you'll find large stacks of them for sale at the Bookstar in Studi City, the B&N superstores at Manhattan Beach and the Grove, and Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo Beach.  Grab one while the supply lasts.

(Of course, for my friends in New Mexico here are signed copies always available at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, along with autographed books by Pat Conroy, Neil Gaiman, Michael Chabon, Junot Diaz, Melinda Snodgrass, Connie Willis, Anne Perry, Peter S. Beagle, S.M. Stirling, Diana Gabaldon, and many more.  And tomorrow we have SUSAN ORLEAN coming in, for our big Rin Tin Tin weekend).

I'll be flying home to Santa Fe in a few hours.

Simonetti Art Book

Marc Simonetti, the amazing French artist who has done so many great covers for both A SONG OF ICE & FIRE and WILD CARDS, is trying to raise funding for a book of his art.

I know there's a lot of Simonetti fans out there.  If you'd like to help, check out:

http://www.itsartmag.com/features/projects/coverama-by-marc-simonetti/



 

3-Eyed Crow Sees All

A GAME OF THRONES fan saves the day:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2621445/Missing-three-year-old-girl-Game-Of-Thrones-fan-searched-field-seeing-crows-circling-birds-sign-important-events-show.html

 

LOCUS Nominees Announced

LOCUS, the premiere SF and fantasy newsletter/ fanzine/ semiprozine/ whatever -- an indispensible publication whatever you call it -- has just announced the finalists for this year's annual Locus Awards, and I am happy to announce that the list includes a couple nods for me.

"The Princess and the Queen," my 'fake history' novella from DANGEROUS WOMEN, has been nominated as Best Novella.

And OLD MARS, the retro-SF anthology I co-edited by Gardner Dozois, is a finalist for Best Anthology.



Gargoo is competing against himself in the anthology category, since his annual BEST OF THE YEAR is also nominated.  Gardner is also nominated as Best Editor (I'm not).

I'm also thrilled by the nominations of a couple of stories we edited.  Joe Abercrombie's "Some Desperado" from DANGEROUS WOMEN and Howard Waldrop's "The Dead-Sea-Bottom Scrolls" from OLD MARS are both finalists in Best Short Story.

And while I had nothing to do with it, I'm equally delighted by the nomination of ABADDON'S GATE by my friends Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck as Best Novel.  ABADDON'S absence from this year's Hugo ballot is a crime, especially considering some of the stuff that did make that ballot.

Win, lose, or draw, it is an honor just to be nominated.

The full list of nominees can found here:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/05/2014-locus-awards-finalists/