Ice and Fire World Book

[red_temple]

Welcome Ran, and we appreciate you stopping by to give us the scoop. And congrats on the book - you must be very excited to get to work on it. I'm jealous....

 

[Ran]

Winters_Sorrow,

I presume it will contain information from AGoT up to AFfC and possibly some stuff which may crop up in ADwD?

Definitely info through AFfC, and almost certainly at least some thematic information from ADwD (the amount of which will be dictated by what we get access to from George).

Do you think there will be any possibility of anything from later in the series - new characters, houses which GRRM is mulling over for inclusion later in the series?

I doubt we'll get anything on new characters, but maybe new houses, or details on areas we've only just had hinted at. It really depends, again, on what information we get access to. I wouldn't be terribly shocked if we learn a lot more about, say, Asshai, if George knows the story might go there one day and already has copious thematic notes laid out about the place.

At the same time, of course, he does want to retain the flavor of exotic mystery about Eastern places.

I'd be very interested to see the "Children of the Forest" and "Others" sections f'instance as the information presented so far has been scarce.

We're interested as well, but as above, I really think GRRM wants to keep some mysteries for the readers, and I suspect the Others and the children are groups that he wants to retain as much mystery as possible about for the novels. If we can wring any new and interesting tidbits out of him, though, we'll certainly make the effort.

genisis2,

Welcome Ran and thank you for posting that much needed information for us fans on this thread. Best of Luck on the book, Im sure to get it once its released.

Thanks!

1. Is it possible to keep us up dated on how its going and possible release date when it comes to completion or near completion?

I'll try to remember to check in here from time to time, but it's not a usual haunt. The best way to keep up-to-date would be to keep an eye on George's site (georgerrmartin.com) and Westeros.org, specifically the 'All Sorts of Weird Stuff' section which provides the latest news concerning all things GRRM.

In fact, George is planning to post his own announcement about the project on his website in the next day or three, once he clears out some time for it. There may be a little more information about it therein.

2. How did this project come about? Was there much correspondence with GRRM about this?

George knew that eventually there'd be interest in this sort of book, and first brought the possibility of it (and our co-authoring it) when I visited him in Santa Fe in 2004 (there's a report about the visit at Westeros.org -- search for 'Bullring' in the Search engine available at the front page -- though that part was confidential and was not mentioned in the report.)

After that, I'm not sure. I just know that a few months ago he contacted us and let us know that publishers were showing a great deal of interest in the project and so he wanted to make sure we were still interested in writing the book with him.

3. Will GRRM be doing any editing on this? Im assuming he'll be looking at what your doing and periodically be giving his input.

Never having done anything like this before, I don't really know what the collaborative process will be like, nor the editing process (our editor, Anne Groell, will no doubt help us with that part quite a bit).

However, we fully expect George to have a significant input, although perhaps not on a daily basis (since he does have ADwD to write, and that's definitely his top priority).

 

[Werthead]

Werthead: Did I read that right? Amiga? 500 or 1000? I had a 500 back in 1988 or so...Oh, the mesh shirts, neon bracelets, pastels and Cyndi Lauper tunes are coming back to me...

Amiga 500. My dad got one in 1989 and I used it up until 1998 when it basically expired and I moved up to a then-modern PC (Pentium II 233Mhz with 64 MB of RAM).

Good times.

Ran, I may PM you on this on the home board

 

[Crisspin]

I'm curious how this will relate to the Guardians of Order Game of Thrones game book ... that book, although an RPG game styled book, was about 50% simple background, lore etc.... I hope they are able to use what was done in that book to ensure things all line up (and given that GoO went out of business).

 

[Raven]

Crisspin, Ran can give you a more complete answer: but I know that he has read the GoO book many times and liked it a great deal, and that both he and George will be aiming to ensure that there are no conflicts between the two.

I would imagine, however, they'll try to minimise the amount of overlap for the sake of hardcore fans who own both (while still ensuring the book covers all the bases).

 

[TK-421]

I'm sure many on you have seen this (it's on GRRM's website):

 

[Ran]

Crisspin,

I think Raven's got the right of it. We won't be using the text from the GoO book (because the work is their copyright, including the bits Linda and I did for them [we wrote the AGoT synopsis and info for several Houses and regions] as that was work-for-hire). Nor do I think we'll be using quite the same format as GoO (which admittedly may be difficult for us to wrap our head around at first, since as noted at the start of the RPG much of the organization is based on our Concordance, which I personally think is an excellent way to lay out thematic info ... but I would say that, wouldn't I? Heh.)

However, we certainly plan to cull it for the tidbits of info that haven't yet appeared in the series (like the Band of Nine and Maelys the Monstrous, or the fact that Dorne didn't officially become a part of the realm until after the first Blackfyre Rebellion), and we'll be sure to prevent any contradictions except in those cases where GoO got it wrong for one reason or another (their estimate of Dornish troops could use significant correction, post AFfC, but that's actually my fault -- I also provided the military estimates to them, based on what we knew pre-AFfC) or GRRM has changed his mind or thought something a bit further out.

 

[Crisspin]

Sounds like a terrific project. Wish you the best and can't wait to see the results ... if your work on the GoO book is any indication, it should be fantastic.

 

[eliogar]

Optimistic, but not outside the realm of possibility, but OTOH Ran does have most of the reference stuff from the books already laid out in the Citadel section of the site. I'm guessing it depends on how much new stuff George will be adding to the book (a fair amount, I'm guessing, to make it worthwhile) and how much new art versus old art will be used (again, a fair amount).

So, if you pligh Ran with questions at LACon, and then we corner him again in Amsterdam (if he comes along), we can find out what the score is. Or just ask him.

You may also would like to be friends with Ran's Dad, as he is always talking to him and inquires about new developments.

 

[Parmenion]

IMHO this series blows all others away, its a true master piece, makes LOTR look over written and tired.

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

We are going to be very good friends Parmenion

 

[Parmenion]

Always good to meet new friends

 

[Aegon the Unworthy]

IMHO this series blows all others away, its a true master piece, makes LOTR look over written and tired.

Whoa whoa whoa.....You are not allowed to think or say things like that about LOTR....

The contexual relevance of LOTR defies description. It defined an entire genre. It looks tired but thats like saying the Beatles made Beethoven sound contrite and corny.

Other than that though, it is old and tired

 

[Parmenion]

I always bow to the doors LOTR opened, but as a reader...Give me GRR M every time

BTW...I hate Tom Bombadil ...i think he should be wiped from the plot.!!

sorry personal moment there!!

 

[Dolorous Edd]

Indeed, LOTR will forever be the most important book(s) i have ever read, but it wouldn't even get into my top 5 Fantasy works now.

 

[Funky Cthulu]

I always bow to the doors LOTR opened, but as a reader...Give me GRR M every time

BTW...I hate Tom Bombadil ...i think he should be wiped from the plot.!!

sorry personal moment there!!

Hmmm, I suppose Tom Bombadil could go but I still find the Shelob sequence and the encounter with the underground wights damn scary. I think the thing wth Tolkien was he was a professor of history (I believe) and he wove the cultural strands and themes together very well, whereas modern authors often take a mish mash of whatever cultures they prefer and try to fit them together in what they claim is a 'totally original new world'. Eg, Robert Jordan's 'trollocs' = Troll + Orcs. He wasn't even trying with that one.
THe only sequence that really makes me cringe in LOTR is that encounter with the 'wild men' or whatever he called them - they all speak Pidgin english and have silly 'native' names. And they turn down all offers of gold and weaponry in classic cliched Noble Native American *tm* fashion, requesting only to be left in peace on mother earth, or some such nonsense. Thankfully they left that out of the film too.

 

[Parmenion]

he may well have been a history guru, but at the time he wrote the Bombadil sequence he was smoking some rather choice 'erbs!
it has been explained away as something for his kids, but that character is just too....drug induced.

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

I always just found the Tom Bombadil parts to be extremely boring. How many pages do we need about frolicking in the meadow?

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I liked him. That whole episode seemed very...fey.

 

[Parmenion]

by fey you mean smoked up on weed, like the magic roundabout! thats what came to mind when i read it!