Cita
FIRE & BLOOD : On The Way
APRIL 25, 2018
No, winter is not coming… not in 2018, at least. You’re going to have to keep waiting for THE WINDS OF WINTER.
You will, however, be able to return to Westeros this year, as I suggested back over on Live Journal.
Archmaester Gyldayn has at last completed and delivered the first half of his monumental history of the Targaryen kings of Westeros, FIRE & BLOOD, and Bantam Spectra and HarperCollins Voyager will be releasing the hardcover on November 20, I am thrilled to say.
I’ve seen the archmaester’s manuscript. Since it was handwritten on vellum with a quill pen, he required my help in transcribing the text to a more modern format: WordStar 4.0, on a DOS computer. Took a while, but a few weeks ago I was able to ship it off to my editors on both sides of the Atlantic, and to my foreign representatives for all my publishers around the world. Some of my foreign publishers will be releasing their editions simultaneously with the US and UK hardbacks; others may need to wait for translation from the Common Tongue.
It’s a hefty book, almost a thousand manuscript pages (okay, 989, if you want to be precise). That’s not quite as long as A GAME OF THRONES or any of the later volumes in A SONG FOR ICE AND FIRE, but there’s a lot of reading there, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. This first volume covers all the Targaryen kings from Aegon I (the Conquerer) to the regency of Aegon III (the Dragonbane), along with their wives, wars, siblings, children, friends, rivals, laws, travels, and sundry other matters. For those not up on your Westerosi history, that’s Aegon I, Aenys, Maegor the Cruel, Jaehaerys I (the Conciliator), Viserys I, Aegon II (and Rhaenyra), and Aegon III (the regency). Oh, and there are dragons too.
Lots of dragons.
Of course, the story doesn’t end with the regents of Aegon III. There is a lot more history to come, and Archmaester Gyldayn will get to all that too, in FIRE & BLOOD, Volume Two. But that one is a few years down the pike. So don’t get impatient. Gyldayn will get to it eventually, but he’s old, and so am I, and we both have other projects to tend to as well. The Citadel puts a lot of demands on an archmaester’s time.
Oh, and I almost forgot the best part: FIRE AND BLOOD will be illustrated throughout. No, it won’t be a huge coffee table book with art on every page, like A WORLD OF ICE & FIRE… but there will be lots of lots of interior artwork. Think more along the lines of the special anniversary edition of A GAME OF THRONES that we did a few years ago, or the gorgeous hardcover of A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, the Dunk & Egg collection. We’ll have more than 75 black & white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley.
And here’s a peek at the US cover, plus an illustration by Doug Wheatley:
And if I may set down Archmaester Gyldayn’s quill for a while…
Long-time fans and readers of my Not A Blog know the entire history of FIRE & BLOOD, but there may be some of you out there who do not. This is the book that I used to jokingly refer to as the GRRMarillion (or the first half of it, at least); that is to say, my version of Tolkien’s mammoth history of Middle Earth. In my case, the focus is on the Targaryens, from Aegon’s Conquest to Robert’s Rebellion (so, unlike JRRT, I will not be covering the creation of the world and any wars amongst the angels). These histories began a few years back as a series of sidebars intended for THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE, our huge illustrated concordance, but I got carried away (as I tend to do) and before long the sidebars got so long they were threatening to overwhelm the entire book, so we pulled them out of that volume… and saved them for this one.
Portions of the book have previously appeared here and there. The chapter about Aegon’s Conquest was published, pretty much as written, in THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE. The section about the reigns of Aegon’s sons Aenys and Maegor came out last year as “Sons of the Dragon,” in Gardner Dozois’s anthology THE BOOK OF SWORDS, and an abridged version of same was in THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE. Material from the chapters about the struggle for succession after Jaehaerys I and the Dance of the Dragons after Viserys I was published in an abridged form as “The Rogue Prince” (in ROGUES) and “The Princess and the Queen” (in DANGEROUS WOMEN), and in a much more severely abridged form in THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE… but FIRE & BLOOD will mark the first time that full, unabridged texts of Archmaester Gyldayn’s histories have been published. In addition, of course, there are hundreds of pages of new material which has never appeared before in any form, abridged or unabridged.
I do want to stress… indeed, I want to shout… that FIRE & BLOOD is not a novel. This is not a traditional narrative and was never intended to be. Some of my fans have objected to the term “fake history” that I’ve bandied about in past blog posts and announcements in reference to “The Princess and the Queen” and “Sons of the Dragon” and the like. Very well; let’s call this one “imaginary history” instead. The essential point being the “history” part. I love reading popular histories myself, and that’s what I was aiming for here. Not historical fiction, not fantasy, no… but something more akin to Thomas B. Costain’s monumental (and wonderfully entertaining) four-volume history of the Plantagenets. (But with dragons. Did I mention the dragons?)
So: not a novel. Everyone clear on that? (Though there are enough stories here for twenty novels. Battles, bloodshed, betrayals, love, lust, horror, religious wars, politics, incest, historical revisionism, all the fun stuff).
Oh, and I should also say… as most of you know, HBO is presently developing a number of different prequels to GAME OF THRONES. I know I am going to be asked whether those shows are going to be based on material from FIRE & BLOOD. It’s a logical question. The only answer I can give is… ah, well, no one is sure yet, and anyway, I am not allowed to say. So let’s move that to the side.
The important thing is: NOVEMBER 20. Mark it down on your calendars. (If you enjoy imaginary history).
Archmaester Gyldayn is hanging up his quill for a while. As for me, I’m returning once again to THE WINDS OF WINTER.
For the retailer links to FIRE & BLOOD, click here.
Current Mood: creative
Credit: http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/04/25/fire-blood-on-the-way/
Ok, abbiamo una data per Fire&Blood, almeno per il primo.
È Frittella il nostro Re
Fa i pasticci, fa i bignè
Io ne mangio pure tre
È Frittella il nostro Re!!!
You're mine. Mine, as I'm yours. And if we die, we die. All men must die, Jon Snow. But first we'll live.
La cosa bella di essere guardiani? l'affetto con cui veniamo ripagati, ma anche il rispetto, la riconoscenza. E' un impegno che dà molto onore e tanta gloria (Cit @Maya )
Quindi TWOW non esce neanche quest'anno? Ma come lo passa il tempo George, maledizione!
Ci ho ripensato, non comprerò F&B. Non comprerò nulla di Martin finché non esce quel maledetto sesto libro
"non scrivero altro fino a quando TWOW sara concluso".........quindi per non mandarcelo in molteplici idiomi mi verrebbe solo da ipotizzare.....
1)l'ha effettivamente finito ma se lo tiene per il dopo GOT, probabilita 3%
2)aveva finito da tempo anche questo, e doveva per forza sganciare qualcosa, probabilita 3%
3)degli ultimi libri delle cronache se ne frega ampiamente da lustri e continua a farlo, probabilita 94%, e quindi ritornare al mandarcelo in molteplici idiomi
" A Grande Inverno giuriamo la fedeltà della Torre delle Acque Grigie. Cuore e focolare e raccolto a te noi doniamo, mio lord. Le nostre spade, le lance e le frecce sono al tuo comando. Da’ misericordia ai nostri deboli, aiuta i nostri inermi e fa’ giustizia per tutti. Noi mai ti volteremo le spalle. Lo giuro sulla terra e sull’acqua. Lo giuro sul bronzo e sul ferro. Lo giuriamo sul ghiaccio e sul fuoco. "
La frase che mi inquieta è soprattutto questa:
" As for me, I’m returning once again to THE WINDS OF WINTER"
Mi chiedo da quanto tempo(mesi?) George abbia messo da parte TWOW per finire il primo volume di Fire&Blood
"Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less."
Beh, non è come l'uscita di TWOW, e diverse cose sono già state pubblicate in TWOIAF e nelle "novelle" già uscite gli ultimi anni... però io sono contento comunque. 
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Lord dei Pan di Stelle - Lord Comandante dei Peluche |
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The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real... for a moment at least... that long magic moment before we wake. [George R. R. Martin] |
Fantastico 
sarà il mio regalo di Natale in anticipo
"It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself".
Federalist No. 51, The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments, in The Federalist Papers, a collection of essays written in favour of the new Constitution as agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
Subito dopo aver visto not a blog ho scritto l'articolo per FantasyMagazine. La sera dopo ho visto una pagina sul sito di Martin e ho deciso di scrivere un altro articolo, visto che lo scrittore ha citato esplicitamente Mondadori:
http://www.georgerrmartin.com/fireandblood/
WOW, quindi 20 novembre anche in lingua italiana! Grazie kindra, grandiosa!
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Lord dei Pan di Stelle - Lord Comandante dei Peluche |
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The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real... for a moment at least... that long magic moment before we wake. [George R. R. Martin] |
Come diceva qualcun altro, anche quest'anno TWOW esce il prossimo anno. Anni fa pensavo che sarebbe uscito al più tardi per il 2018/19, adesso penso che prima del 2020 al più presto non ce lo avremo. A parte lo sconforto per questa ennesima mancata uscita, sono molto contenta che esca la prima parte di Fire & Blood: leggere dei Targaryen è sempre un piacere, specialmente di quelli storici e pure un'occasione per vedere più approfonditi dei personaggi che, appena accennati in TWOIAF, TRP, e TPATQ, avevo trovato potenzialmente molto intriganti letterariamente parlando.
Peccato che poi la Ribellione di Robert, come TWOW, non arriverà mai visto che sarà nel secondo e non potrà, per forza di cose, uscire prima di TWOW.
"And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!”
She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
“I pass the test”, she said. “I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.”
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"A ruler needs a good head and a true heart," she famously told the king. "A cock is not essential. If your Grace truly believes that women lack the wit to rule, plainly you have no further need of me." And thus Queen Alysanne departed King's Landing and flew to Dragonstone on her dragon Silverwing. [...] The queen died of a wasting illness in 100 AC, at the age of four-and-sixty, still insisting that her granddaughter Rhaenys and her children had been unfairly cheated of their rights. "The boy in the belly," the unborn child who had been the subject of so much debate, proved to be a girl when born in 93 AC. Her mother named her Laena. The next year, Rhaenys gave her a brother Laenor.
Quastione di carattere, e di vedere il bicchiere mezzo vuoto o mezzo pieno: anch'io sono tra quelli che F&B non lo vogliono vedere manco in fotografia.
Non riuscirei a leggerlo, perchè non farei altro che pensare che ogni sua pagina sarebbe potuta essere una pagina di TWOW.
Oltre tutto, fosse un volume unico, potrei anche pensare "vabbè, dai:ce lo siamo tolto dai piedi, George si è levato lo sfizio, adesso riprenderà a lavorare su quello che deve". Ma questo *§]@##[ di un **%&$$@ ma porprio &&%$**@° (non cercate di decifrarli: sono simboli a caso, ma spero vivamente che esista qualche lungua -che so, venusiano antico- in cui sono termini non del tutto volgari ma comuqnue moderatamente, educatamente offensivi) si è imbarcato in un'altra trilogia, si è imbarcato. Ma uffa.
A me fa abbastanza voglia. L'unica cosa che frena il mio entusiasmo è che si tratterà in buona sostanza della versione estesa di storie che conosciamo già.
Quanto a TWOW, niente di nuovo, quindi non capisco tanto le polemiche di oggi: si sapeva già che Fire & Blood sarebbe stato diviso in due e la prima parte sarebbe uscita nel 2018. Certo, si poteva sperare che uscisse qualche mese prima e quindi restasse tempo anche per TWOW, ma francamente ci credevo poco.
F&B sarà sostanzialmente una parte di TWOIAF approfondita in maniera particolare, un pò come La principessa e la regina, ma mi attira comunque, sicchè, per quanto possa preferire quel maledetto TWOW, penso che lo comprerò comunque.
Al fatto che il Giorgione preferisca buttare del tempo per un simil libro di storia sulla dinastia Targaryen, che bene o male conosciamo tutti quanto basta da farci dormire tranquilli la notte, neanche voglio pensarci... 
Ma george vuole copiare il simarillion di tolkien? Non so se avete già scritto in merito.
Sinceramente non penso che Martin sia in grado di muoversi su quella strada, e d'altra parte il Silmarillion è una sorta di Bibbia, Fire&Blood si pone come una sorta di saggio storico. Sono due tipi di opere molto diverse tra di loro.
Senza contare che Tolkien ha lavorato al Silmarillion praticamente per tutta la sua vita, se Martin si mette in testa anche l'epopea mitologica di ASOIAF, stiamo freschi...
38 minutes fa, Menevyn dice:se Martin si mette in testa anche l'epopea mitologica di ASOIAF, stiamo freschi...
Ssshhhhh non suggerirgli pure quest'idea, il vecchio George vede e sente tutto.
Gli manca solo un'altra scusa per non scrivere TWOW
