George R.R. Martin asks fans of GoT to let him work

George R.R. Martin likely feels fortunate in many ways. But that doesn't preclude him from needing to remind people to back off a bit. Last year the author of the famed A Song of Ice Fire series - understandably - responded to the Swiss daily, Tages Anzeiger, in strong terms regarding concerns about his age and health. We won't link to that (keeping things fairly polite).

Obviously stressing Martin out isn't going to help him complete the next installment any quicker. And now he's sought to remind fans of the TV series Game of Thrones, adapted from the A Song... books, exactly that. On his 'Not A Blog' livejournal page, Martin addresses one or two other matters and then is quite clear:

Meanwhile, other wars are breaking out on other fronts, centered around the last few episodes of GAME OF THRONES. It is not my intention to get involved in those, nor to allow them to take over my blog and website, so please stop emailing me about them, or posting off-topic comments here on my Not A Blog. Wage those battles on Westeros, or Tower of the Hand, or Boiled Leather, or Winter Is Coming, or Watchers on the Walls. Anyplace that isn't here, actually.

Yes, I know that THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER named me "the third most powerful writer in Hollywood" last December. You would be surprised at how little that means. I cannot control what anyone else says or does, or make them stop saying or doing it, be it on the fannish or professional fronts. What I can control is what happens in my books, so I am going to return to that chapter I've been writing on THE WINDS OF WINTER now, thank you very much.

Hard to argue with, that. We wouldn't want to either - this is the man who in July 2013 destroyed a guitar, with Neil Gaiman for support. Seriously, let's just let him work. After all, it's not like there's a shortage of other great books to read in the meantime.

George R.R. Martin offers World of Ice and Fire sample

George R.R. Martin, author of the ASong of Ice and Fire series - which American network HBO commissioned as 'Game of Thrones' - has provided a sample of his new book. The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones, is set to be released in October 2014, with the author posting a generous extract on his website.

The extract isn't easy to find - that's our excuse for not seeing it sooner - but includes a history of the Targaryen king Aegon the Conqueror. Aegon, as Martin fans will know, is a figure often referenced in the author's richly imagined world. Westerosi history recounts 'The Conquest' as Aegon's defining triumph in uniting six of the seven realms under his rule.

In creating the book, being referred to as a companion to his previous works (as well as to the Game of Thrones TV series), Martin has had quite the project on his hands. As the book's pre-release Amazon page offers:

If the past is prologue, then George R. R. Martin’s masterwork—the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time—warrants one hell of an introduction.

It would be hard to put it better, as Martin looks to offer a comprehensive and detailed history of his world in around 400 pages. Still, the author's UK publisher, Jane Johnson, clearly feels that at least 'comprehensive and detailed' has been achieved. Ms Johnson posted on Twitter last week:

#amreading George RR Martin's World of Ice & Fire, the history of Essos and Westeros. It's fan-bloody-tastic, and coming soon.

The October release should quench some of the thirst for those eagerly awaiting the sixth A Song of Ice and Fire title. There is currently no projected publishing date for the next installment, The Winds of Winter, with Ms Johnson suggesting in January it"almost certainly" wouldn't be published before 2015.

Happily though, we do already have an excerpt from the title to peek at.

And we now also have a Martin book coming this year!