Twenty years ago this morning, in the height of summer of 1996, George R.R. Martin’s first volume of what was originally a planned trilogy called A Song of Ice and Fire was published. Entitled A Game of Thrones, this silver and blue hardback was not some sort of earth shattering best seller heralding a new era in fantasy. In Martin’s own recollection today on his blog it was sold “…well, okay.”
Solid. But nothing spectacular. No bestseller lists, certainly. I went on a book tour around that same time, signing copies in Houston, Austin, and Denton, Texas; in St. Louis, Missouri; in Chicago and Minneapolis; and up the west coast to San Diego, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Portland, and Seattle. Turnouts were modest in most places. The crowds didn’t reach one hundred anywhere, and at one stop (St. Louis, if you must know), not only was attendance zero but I actually drove four patrons out of the bookshop, allowing me to set my all time “bad signing” record at minus four (on the plus side, I had the time for long friendly talks with the readers who did show up).
The first novel in what would improbably go on to be the biggest television show in the history of the medium may not have had the most auspicious start, but, in my own experience, was the book that moved via word of mouth. I know I personally hooked about ten people by buying them copies of A Game of Thrones for birthdays. (I know this, because they still curse me when they complain about having to wait for the next book.) I wasn’t the only one. Fans of that era passed the first story around saying “It’s the story of Eddard Stark, moral compass of the North” and a sly smile. “Spoiler culture” may not have been a recognized concept yet, but we knew that twist had to stay under wraps if the the hook was to be effective.
As we reported a few weeks ago, Bantam is coming out with a 20th Anniversary Illustrated Edition this year to celebrate this milestone, and it’s currently available for pre-order. Unfortunately, it’s not out today on the landmark day, but releasing October 18th, aimed for the Christmas sales period. To make up for it, Martin has given us a taste of what those illustrations inside will entail.
The list of participating artists reads like an all star roster of fantasy illustrators, and includes such luminaries as John Picacio, Paul Youll, Gary Gianni, Didier Graffet, Victor Moreno, Michael Komarck, Arantza Sestayo, Magali Villeneuve,Ted Nasmith, Levi Pinfold,Marc Simonetti, and many more. We’ve had some stunning illustrated editions of A Game of Thrones before, to be sure, with the limited editions from Meisha Merlin and Subterranean Press… but each of those was illustrated only by a single artist. This will be the first edition to feature such a galaxy of talent.
Martin has also swapped his avi pic on LiveJournal to one from the 1990s era. He says it’s one taken “That picture was taken just a few weeks after I blew my first (bot not my last, oh no) deadline on the series. Ah, how innocent I was… little did that guy in the picture imagine that he would be spending most of the next two decades in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros with Tyrion, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, Jon Snow, Bran, and all the rest.”
And speaking of blown deadlines…. No, he’s not done with The Winds of Winter. He’s still working….
“((and no, sorry, I have no announcement to make on that front)).”
So save the man some grief on this enornmous milestone anniversary. And Happy Birthday to A Game of Thrones.
Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/08/01/happy-20th-anniversary-a-song-of-ice-and-fire-and-a-game-of-thrones/
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