From Vox Magazine: Read This: The World of Ice and Fire

Couresy of Bantam Books

Published in 10/23 print issue of Vox magazine and published on voxmagazine.com

Ever since George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire epic series debuted nearly two decades ago, readers have been clamoring for the finale. But those climactic reveals still are many years and thousands of pages away. Martin’s newest release, The World of Ice and Fire, will have to tide fans over until then.

Martin’s world book hits shelves on Oct. 28. The massive volume serves as an encyclopedic guide to Planetos’s history by exploring the origins, ancestries and legends behind the best-selling book series and its companion television series, Game of Thrones.

Ancient histories of pre-conquest regions, the beginnings of King Robert Baratheon’s reign, watercolor maps and troves of art and anecdotes will expand the breadth and depth of Martin’s fantasy world. The book dives into the Iron Throne’s establishment, the genealogy of the Houses of Westeros and character backgrounds.

Freelance writer Thomas Fichtenmayer, who covers Game of Thrones for Esquire, is eager for the deluge of encyclopedic details. “It’s frustrating to attempt to analyze a series when you only have about 70 percent of the information,” Fichtenmayer says in an e-mail. “I’m hoping that the world book will help bridge some gaps in my knowledge.”

For readers who have ventured off into other series set in Westeros, it will include plot continuations from previous books, such as revelations from “Tales of Dunk and Egg” — a prequel novella series to A Song of Ice and Fire.

This new release, which is more focused on background than on dishing what’s to come, will have to do until the long-awaited sixth novel of the series, The Winds of Winter, appears on the horizon. Winds has no release date; Martin is still writing it.

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