George R.R. Martin's Blog, page 6

Here There Be Dragons

I trust you all caught “The Red Dragon and the Gold,” the fourth episode of season 2 of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON.   A lot of you have been wanting for action, I know; this episode delivered it in spades with the Battle of Rook’s Rest, when dragon met dragon in the skies.

Has there ever been a dragon battle to match it?   I seem to recall that REIGN OF FIRE had a few scenes where a dozen dragons were wheeling through the skies.   So, okay, maybe that was a bigger scene, with more dragons on screen… bu...

A Bold New Look for the A Song of Ice and Fire Boxed Set

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER:

Behold, the stunning new covers for the first five books! These covers will be available in a boxed set, available online and in stores this October.

    

The new design tries to capture the vastness of Westeros and the dangerous journey readers will encounter. There is a raw and gritty quality to linocut and woodcut art. A certain starkness that seemed to fit the stories, and a long history to the art form that felt right for ...

On the Road Again

We will be headed across the Atlantic in a week or so for the longest trip we’ve taken in a while, part business and part pleasure.

First stop will be Belfast, where I am planning to visit Ashford Meadow, catch a little jousting and maybe a puppet show, meet a certain hedge knight and his squire, and the rest of the cast of the Dunk & Egg show.   And of course we’ll be having a meal or three with Ira Parker, Owen Harris, and their team.   Really looking forward to that.

We have a few more stops ...

Yum

So… a friend of a friend was in Spain recently, and visited Barcelona.

One of my favorite cities.   In Spain, in Europe, or, well… anywhere.  It has been way too long since I was there.  Many cool things to see in Barcelona.  Including, it would seem, a Chocolate Museum.   I’ve never been there myself, but… well… my friend’s friend DID go to the Chocolate Museum, where they found..

…A chocolate me.

I find myself at a loss for words, but full of questions.

Am I made of dark chocolate or milk cho...

Blood, Cheese, and Grief

I made a visit to London last November.   Checked in with the editors and publishers at Voyager, my British publisher, saw friends both old and new, caught some plays on the West End (CABARET and THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE among them), had lunch with the playwright and director on our own play-in-progress… and headed out to Leavesden Studio to tour the HOUSE OF THE DRAGON sets.  That part was spectacular.   I have visited real castles that did not look half as imposing as the Red Keep and ...

R.I.P. Kinkster

I was saddened to read that Kinky Friedman died a few days ago.

I first encountered his music back in the 70s, and always remained fond of it.   Kinky was one of the originals, one of of  “Outlaw Country” movement that grew out of Austin, in reaction to the more traditional country music of Nashville.   Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, those were the outlaw kings back then.   Kinky was the court jester.    He was best known for his irrevere...

Lose One, Win One

You win some, you lose some, some get rained out.

That’s how it goes in baseball, and in the awards game as well.

VOYAGING, Raya Golden’s lovely graphic novel adaptation of “The Plague Star,” the opening novella in my Haviland Tuf series, was a finalist for this year’s Locus Award in the category of Illustrated or Art Books.  The awards were presented on June 22, and, alas, we lost.   (Or you might say we were “differently victorious,” as the toastmaster did at the 1998 Nebula Awards).

The winne...

Dunk Takes the Field

There’s a tournament in Ashford Meadow, and a hedge knight who wants to enter.   He call himself Ser Duncan the Tall, but goes by Dunk to his friends.   “Dunk the Lunk, thick as a castle wall,” some will say, but he means to be a champion.

Provided he can scrape up enough coin for some armor.

Dunk’s a large lad, and good steel does not come cheap.

Peter Claffey will be playing our favorite hedge knight, and he’s already been sighted around Ashford.   HBO was kind enough to provide a picture… an...

Words of Wisdom

Waldrop Wins One

VERY pleased to announce that MARY MARGARET ROAD-GRADER, the second of the Howard Waldrop shorts we’ve produced, kicked ass and took names at its world premiere, taking home the honors as Best Indigenous Short at the deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City.

Steven Paul Judd and Elias Gallegos represented the Fevre River Packet Company and Lumenscape Productions at the festival, while Taylor Church attended on behalf of Trioscope.   Elias also played the part of Simon Red Bulldozer.  Steven di...