George R. R. Martin has just confirmed on his "Not a Blog" website what the fans have dreaded all along. "The Winds of Winter," the sixth installment of his "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series on which "Game of Thrones" TV show is based won't be released in 2018. To say that this book is "long-awaited" would be an understatement as fans have been waiting a full seven years for it.
The news isn't all bad, though, because we've got the official release date for the first volume of "Fire And Blood," a book that is definitely going to be the basis for whatever "Game of Thrones" prequel "HBO" is developing.
And if that's not a good enough reason for you to be excited, wait until you see what the book is about.
Archmaester Gyldayn's 'Fire and Blood' explained
"Archmaester Gyldayn has at last completed and delivered the first half of his monumental history of the Targaryen kings of Westeros," George R. R: Martin wrote on his "Not a Blog" website, "and Bantam spectra and HarperCollins Voyager will be releasing the hardcover on November 20."
For those of you who don't know, unlike the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books that follow characters' point of view, "Fire and Blood" represents a Targaryen history, as told by Archmaester Gyldayn (the last maester to serve at Summerhall.)
To recall, George R. R. Martin already published stories from Gyldayn's perspective.
"Rogue Prince," about Daemon Targaryen, brother of Viserys I, "The Princess and The Queen" about the Targaryen civil war known as "The Dance of the Dragons," and "The Sons of the Dragon," a short story released last year that follows the rule of Aegon the Conquerer's sons Aenys, and Maegor. All these stories will be further explored in the first volume of "Fire and Blood."
"The World of Ice and Fire," however, is a work by Maester Yandel, but it also contains the excerpts of Gyldayn's manuscripts.
It should be noted that Yandel's words were written by Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson while anything attributed to Gyldayn was directly written by Martin himself.
'Fire and Blood' might give us clues about 'Game of Thrones'
George R. R. Martin has also stated that "Fire and Blood" will be almost a thousand pages long, and that the first volume will cover the Targaryen kings, from Aegon the Conqueror to Aegon the Dragonbane, third of his name.
Meaning that it will follow the reigns of Aegon I, Aenys, Maegor the Cruel, Jaehaerys I, Viserys I, Aegon II (and Rhaenyra), and Aegon III. And of course, lots of dragons.
Note that while the reigns of these kings were mostly covered in Martin's previous work, there are still "hundreds of pages of new material which has never appeared in any form, abridged or unabridged."
All in all, "Game of Thrones" and "A Song of Ice and Fire" fans have every reason to be excited about "Fire and Blood" because if we know anything about these books it's that they are incredibly detailed, and who knows, maybe we'll get some clues about the main series.
Are you excited for the new George R. R. Martin's book? I know I am. And for those of you who are mad about another "The Winds of Winter" delay, just read "The Forsaken" sample chapter, and you'll realize that this book is definitely worth the wait. Cheers.
