Read the First Excerpt from Game of Thrones Sequel ‘The Winds of Winter’ by George R.R. Martin

When it comes to Game of Thrones, nobody is more enthusiastic about new information than the book fans. The fans who have read through thousands of pages and still not been satisfied with an ending in over two decades. It has been three years since we have heard anything about when The Winds of Winter will be released. While we still don’t have that information (SORRY!) but we do have an excerpt from this writer’s personal favourite character – Tyrion!

Check it out below:

TYRION

Somewhere off in the far distance, a dying man was screaming for his mother. “To horse!” a man was yelling in Ghiscari, in the next camp to the north of the Second Sons. “To horse! To horse!” High and shrill, his voice carried a long way in the morning air, far beyond his own encampment. Tyrion knew just enough Ghiscari to understand the words, but the fear in his voice would have been plain in any tongue. I know how he feels.

Many thanks to Entertainment Weekly who shared the quotes. They also report that the whole chapter will be available in March through Random House’s A World of Ice and Fire app.The chapter will feature Tyrion and be available even in the free version of the app, along with new location descriptions and character profiles.

The release date for Winds of Winter has yet to be determined but I’m willing to be that 2015 will be the year. Martin likes to take his time writing the books but he has a new motivation to complete the books faster now that the TV series is already up to Book 3. The last Game of Thrones book,  A Dance with Dragons, the fifth in the series, was published in 2011. While we eagerly await a release date you can be sure that the exclusive chapter in March will be a big tease!

Game of Thrones Season 4 will premiere on Sunday, April 6, at 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on HBO.

‘Game of Thrones’ Casts Major Season 4 Role: Oberyn the Red Viper

The most anticipated new role coming to the fourth season of Game of Thrones has been filled! Thanks to EW we now know that Prince Oberyn Martell will be played by Chilean actor Pedro Pascal, who has previously had roles on CBS’ The Good Wife, ABC’s Red Widow and USA’s Graceland.

For those who haven’t read the books, here’s a spoiler-free description of the character: Oberyn is a brash, charming, cunning prince of Dorne (part of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros). His sister Elia was brutally murdered by the Lannister knight Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane when Mad King Aerys was overthrown by Robert Baratheon and the Lannisters. In season four, Oberyn comes to King’s Landing with revenge on his mind.

Oberyn Martell has a pretty awesome nickname too – The Red Viper. What could the story behind this nickname be? We’ll probably find out next season!

“This was a tough one,” showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss said about the casting. “The Red Viper is sexy and charming, yet believably dangerous; intensely likable, yet driven by hate. The boys love him, the girls love him, and he loves them all back. Unless your last name is Lannister. We found a fellow who can handle the job description and make it seem effortless. He wasn’t easy to find and he won’t be easy to stop.”

HBO hasn’t yet announced its Comic-Con plans, but if you’re headed to San Diego, it’s safe to assume Thrones will have a presence this year. Game of Thrones returns in 2014.

If you want to know more about what’s coming for Game of Thrones Season 4 check out this article. And if you’re a book fan eagerly awaiting George R.R. Martin’s next book in his acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series, read all the details we know so far on The Winds of Winter.

George R.R. Martin Expects ‘Bittersweet Ending’ to ‘Game of Thrones’ Books

A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has spoken to EW about the shocking events of the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones season 3, and how he plans to end the book series. Martin has said that he knew almost immediately that Robb wouldn’t make it, just as he knew his father Ned wouldn’t survive the events in Westeros:

“I knew it almost from the beginning,” Martin says. “I killed Ned because everybody thinks he’s the hero and that, sure, he’s going to get into trouble, but then he’ll somehow get out of it. The next predictable thing is to think his eldest son is going to rise up and avenge his father. So immediately [killing Robb] became the next thing I had to do.”

However, even though he knew it had to happen, “That was the hardest scene I’ve ever had to write,” he admits. “It was like murdering two of your children.”

And he completely understands that readers (and now HBO viewers) are upset. “Just as you grieve if a friend is killed, you should grieve if a fictional character is killed. You should care. If somebody dies and you just go get more popcorn, it’s a superficial experience isn’t it?”

Martin loves catching his readers off guard, and this means killing off the good guys. “I anticipate a bittersweet ending,” he says of the ending to the series, which culminates with the seventh book in the saga, A Dream of Spring.

Martin is still writing The Winds of Winter, the next book in the series, so both book and tv fans will have to wait and see if some of the Starks manage to survive. But book fans have the added advantage of knowing a few more events that have yet to take place and likely will make Season 4 of Game of Thrones a riveting experience for all fans. (Too much teasing?)

Next week’s episode of Game of Thrones is the season 3 finale, titled “Mhysa.” It airs at 9/8c on HBO.

Twitter Reacts to ‘Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding, Book Excerpt That Ended The Starks

Last night we saw the craziest, most shocking scene, that Game of Thrones has offered to date and many fans took to Twitter to voice their strong opinions. Lena Headey, actress who plays Cersei Lannister, mourned the loss of her on screen nemesis, and others not connected to the show felt the shocking end of some of their favorite characters moved them more than they expected. Check some of them out below and scroll down further to read the awesome piece of writing that Martin published 13 years ago in A Storm of Swords, to end Catelyn’s life.

“It hurts so much, she thought. Our children, Ned, all our sweet babes. Rickon, Bran, Arya, Sansa, Robb… Robb… please, Ned, please, make it stop, make it stop hurting… The white tears and the red ones ran together until her face was torn and tattered, the face that Ned had loved. Catelyn Stark raised her hands and watched the blood run down her long fingers, over her wrists, beneath the sleeves of her gown. Slow red worms crawled along her arms and under her clothes. It tickles. That made her laugh until she screamed. “Mad,” someone said, “she’s lost her wits,” and someone else said, “Make an end,” and a hand grabbed her scalp just as she’d done with Jinglebell, and she thought, No, don’t, don’t cut my hair, Ned loves my hair. Then the steel was at her throat, and its bite was red and cold.— Catelyn Stark”

– A Storm of Swords, George R. R. Martin

‘Game of Thrones’ Author George R.R. Martin Reveals ‘Winds of Winter’ Details and More

In a new interview with Adria’s News, George R.R. Martin has talked in detail about the future of the saga in books and the HBO tv show! The most interesting bits of the interview are about the next book in the ASOIAF saga, The Winds of Winter, as well as how he writes characters, works to subvert reader expectations and more. The entire interview is worth checking out, but you can read some snippets right here.

Martin speaks very openly about how far he has come writing Winds: “I’ve already written 400 pages of my sixth book and I really look forward to publishing it in 2014, but I am really bad for predictions.” He is aware of the fact that after the saga is done, he will be judged at the quality, not the speed of his writing so if we have to wait a little longer for perfection we can’t blame him for that!

He also talks about the seventh and final book in the saga, which he has chosen to name A Dream of Spring (after previously considering Time of Wolves). While he knows how he plans to finish the series, “I discover all that details while I am writing the book and that’s the reason why I go so slowly: because sometimes I have to go back to change certain things.”

That said, however, “I will write the two last books as good as I am capable of and I think the great majority of my readers would be happy with it,” Martin says.

On his decision to kill off important characters at various points in the saga, he says, “I want to state that everybody can die. Mine is not a predictable book like so many others, where you know the hero is safe. No matter how much trouble the hero gets in, what odds he seems to be facing; he’s gonna come through, cause he… he is John Carter, he is the hero. That’s not the way in real life and I want to be realistic in my books, so no one is safe in the books.”

Martin also reflects on why his series is called A Song of Ice and Fire, saying, “People say I was influenced by Robert Frost’s poem, and of course I was, I mean… Fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardor and all of these things. Ice is betrayal, ice is revenge, ice is… you know, that kind of cold inhumanity and all that stuff is being played out in the books.”

I urge all readers to check out the full interview with Martin over at Adria’s News. It is truly one of the best interviews with George R.R. Martin in a long while. You can read an excerpt of the The Winds of Winter at George R.R. Martin’s website.