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Updated with info from Orb Sceptre Throne and Blood and Bone : Following the publication of Blood and Bone , it's now possible to work out a new reading order for the books to best account for the information given by both authors. This list is not the chronological order of the novels, which would likely be very confusing, but a 'best' reading list accounting for publication and chronological orders: Gardens of the Moon Deadhouse Gates Memories of Ice House of Chains Midnight Tides Night of Knives * The Bonehunters Return of the Crimson Guard ** Reaper's Gale Toll the Hounds *** Stonewielder**** Orb Sceptre Throne ***** Dust of Dreams The Crippled God Blood and Bone *** *** Assail (forthcoming) The placement of Forge of Darkness remains difficult. It is so full of references to things already-established in the Malazan series that reading it first is hard to recommend, but it does clarify some elements of the world and terminologies that may be much more helpfu...

Okay, this is going to be a bit of a non-review because you probably already know if you are going to be getting this or not. Basically, it's a collection of full-colour maps of Westeros and Essos, the two continents which form the setting for the Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin. Either you're going to go, "Hey, awesome! I'm all in!" or be running away screaming for fear of being infected with Nerditis. The map collection comes in a smart but somewhat non-durable folder. Don't put anything on top of it for long, as it really cannot support much in the way of weight. There's a single pull-out piece of paper with marketing speak on it (more or less the same as the blurb on the back ) and that's it for any kind of textual accompaniment. Those familiar with John Howe's excellent Tolkien maps, or the maps accompanying Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, will likely find this disappointing as those maps were accompanied by small bo...

Something that may be of marginal interest. A size comparison of various fantasy worlds that I created: At top-left is Westeros/Essos (the HBO version of the latter) from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire . Next to it on the top line is J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, with Ansalon from the Dragonlance world next to that. Below them is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time map (which was tricky to get right, as the distances given in the books are sometimes contradictary). At bottom-right is Raymond E. Feist's Triagia (on the world of Midkemia), the setting for most of his Riftwar fiction. At bottom-left is Faerun, the principal continent of the Forgotten Realms world. Something that is surprising here is how small Middle-earth is compared to these other, later-created fantasy worlds.

The Lands of Ice and Fire , a companion volume to A Song of Ice and Fire comprising a dozen large poster maps, is now available in the USA. Its official UK release date is 8 November, but don't be surprised to see some early copies slipping onto shelves before that date. Qarth and the Jade Gates, featuring the hitherto-unmentioned island of Great Moraq. The forested region just to the east is the kingdom of Yi Ti. The map collection features the first canon-for-the-books maps of eastern Essos, including the Jade Sea region. These maps introduce a whole host of new locations to the world of Westeros and Essos, some of which may be referenced in future books.

The Lands of Ice and Fire - a collection of poster maps depicting the world of A Song of Ice and Fire - will be published next week. io9 have released some more sneak peeks of the collection, including our first-ever canon glimpse of Asshai and the Shadow Lands: Readers of the books know that Asshai is a highly mysterious city located in the far south-eastern corner of the explored world, on the eastern shores of the Jade Sea, five thousand or more miles from Westeros. Beyond Asshai lies the even more enigmatic 'Shadow Lands', the home of mysterious people who always go masked in public (such as Daenerys's sometimes-ally Quaithe). Asshai was first mentioned in A Game of Thrones (published in 1996), but this is the first time it's been officially depicted visually in any form.

A good while ago, an interesting app appeared on iTunes. The app was an interactive map of Westeros, the setting for the Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones TV show. Users could search for obscure locations from the books and scroll around the map. As a free app, it was pretty good, although it was very heavily based on the same art style as the official map created by HBO for the TV show. The guy who created it, one Sergey Rekuz, posted on the Westeros.org forum and, given its usability, handiness and noted non-profit-making stance, he was allowed to advertise his product. Tear's famous map of Westeros, still the definitive online map of the setting (and not at all affiliated with the iTunes app). However, a few months ago something more dubious happened. The app was expanded with several modules that had to be paid for. The first such module was a map of Essos, the continent to the east of Westeros. This was then expanded by a 'cities map' and a 'coat of...

Some of George R.R. Martin's personal papers and items have made their way to the Texas A&M archive, where they are being stored for future study. This is traditional in the publishing world for well-known authors, with J.R.R. Tolkien's papers residing at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Via Winter is Coming , a few images from the collection have appeared on Tumblr. Most interesting is the above map of the lands beyond the Wall, from A Song of Ice and Fire . Presumably this is one of GRRM's original hand-drawn maps (or a copy of one), which the versions in the books were replicated from by professional artists. Interesting stuff.

Ever wondered how big the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos are compared to the real-life USA and UK? No? Well, disregard then. For those who have, this is a (very) rough image I knocked up to show the comparison: Some interesting points: Skagos is the same size as Ireland, so not the tiny little island readers may be expecting from its size on the map. And Dany's journey in A Game of Thrones alone (not to mention the north-west length of Westeros) spans a greater distance than the east-west width of the United States. Also, the North is so huge it can swallow up the entire British Isles several times with room left over. And Catelyn's travels in A Clash of Kings were the equivalent of crossing Texas and back again with surprisingly little trouble.

With the arrival of the semi-canon world map produced by HBO for the Game of Thrones TV series, it is now possible to - at least roughly - chart the journey undertaken by Daenerys Targaryen in the Song of Ice and Fire novels. This has long been a subject of much discussion amongst book fans due to the absence of maps of the eastern continent in the books. Note that if you are only familiar with the TV series, this article contains significant spoilers for later events from the books . Note that the scale on the above map is approximate, and all distances given are approximate as well. It's also worth noting that the HBO map (on which the above is based and which in turn was based on George R.R. Martin's rough draft map) is canon only up to (roughly) Vaes Tolorro. The precise location of Qarth and the shape of the landmass around it will be clarified in The Lands of Ice and Fire (due in October), though I doubt the distance will be radically different. A Game of Thrones Pentos...

Bantam have unveiled the final cover art for The Lands of Ice and Fire , the forthcoming map book accessory for the Song of Ice and Fire novels. The final cover has a familiar view, that of the lands beyond the Wall. The cartographer for the book has also been announced, Jonathan Roberts of the Fantastic Maps blog, which is well worth a look. The book will be released on 30 October 2012.

With the start of Season 2 of Game of Thrones HBO has updated their Viewer's Guide website with a whole host of new information. Most notable is a new map that shows a lot more of the eastern continent of Essos than previously seen, although not all of it (Asshai is still off the map, though Qarth and the edge of the Jade Sea are shown). So is this map 'canon' for the books as well? Mostly, certainly as far east as the Red Waste and Lhazar. However, George R.R. Martin recently re-conceptualised the map of Essos past that region. The HBO map is based on older material and should not be considered canon for the books (although the approximate locations of Vaes Dothrak and Qarth should be correct, the coastlines and some of the geographic detail has changed). Amusingly, since it doesn't show the known coast of Sothoryos, the map fails to resolve the age-old question of whether the Jade Sea is a landlocked semi-inland sea (like the Black Sea) or not. Speculation may conti...

With Game of Thrones resuming tonight (in the USA; tomorrow in the UK), it might be handy to have a brief catch-up on who's doing what to whom. Obviously, MASSIVE SPOILERS if you have not yet watched Season 1. Major locations in Seasons 1 and 2. The State of Play The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are wracked by civil war, a war that threatens to spiral out of control and eclipse even the bloody rebellion of Robert Baratheon against the Mad King Aerys Targaryen in casualties. The arrest of Eddard Stark by the newly-raised boy-king Joffrey Baratheon has led Eddard's son, Robb, to declare war on Joffrey and his primary supporters, the Lannisters. The Stark armies have won a strategic victory at the Battle of the Whispering Wood, taking Jaime Lannister prisoner and breaking the siege of Riverrun, leading many of the River Lords to join Robb's cause. The main Lannister army, under the command of Lord Tywin Lannister, has retired to the formidably-defended castle of Harrenhal and l...

Bantam have released some more info about the forthcoming Lands of Ice and Fire map project. Images removed at creator's request. The cover and maps shown above are mock-ups. The actual images don't appear to be from A Song of Ice and Fire and are probably placeholders. Actually, it looks like a map from Neil Gower (the excellent cartographer best-known for his maps for The Malazan Book of the Fallen ), which should not be taken to mean that Gower is the artist for the map set (the artist has not yet been announced). The Lands of Ice and Fire is a boxed collection of twelve maps. Whilst we don't know the full list, we currently have the following maps listed: A 'known world' map stretching from Westeros to Asshai (a brand new map). A full map of Westeros, combining the North and the South. A detailed map of the lands Beyond the Wall (likely the same as the map in the books). A map of the Free Cities region (likely the same as the map from A Dance with Dragons )....

Westeros.org contributor (and TitanCon co-organiser) SerMountainGoat has created a new world map for A Song of Ice and Fire. The map was inspired by the superb map of Westeros created by poster Tear at the Cartographer's Guild a couple of years ago (a map so good the HBO crew used it for referencing whilst planning the TV series), but adds Essos, Sothoryos, Ibben and the Summer Islands to the mix (some of the placements of which I worked on for my own stop-gap map from last year). After completing the map, SMG contacted George R.R. Martin. Martin commented on the map's accuracy and also revealed some fresh information about the forthcoming Maps of Ice and Fire book, due on October this year. "This is a very handsome map. And based on the information you have, it's quite good. But of course there's lots of information you don't have, so it's not accurate. There are certain things -- the geography and location of the Summer Islands, the placement of...

Random House/Bantam have recently added a book called Maps of Ice and Fire to their release schedule. The book has a release date of 30 October 2012 and a retail price of $40. What will this book be? A collection of large poster maps of Westeros, Essos and maybe a few of the cities? A full-scale atlas like the old (but cool) fantasy atlases by the late Karen Wynn Fonstad? We actually don't know. More info as we get it :-) Meanwhile, HBO's online schedule has reached 1 April 2012 and has confirmed that the first episode of Season 2 of Game of Thrones will be called The North Remembers .

Melisandre (Carice van Houten) and Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham). The World of Ice and Fire , a companion book to the Song of Ice and Fire novels, will have its release date announced in the near future. The companion volume, co-written by Martin and the admins of the Westeros.org website, will feature new artwork and never-before-seen maps, as well as a wealth of new background information. Note: information changed at the request of the publisher. Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie). Meanwhile, HBO have released a plethora of new publicity images for Season 2 of Game of Thrones . These can be seen on the Winter is Coming website here . Lord Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide). There's also a nice new map of Westeros and Essos doing the rounds. This map is the version that can be seen on the new enhanced and annotated ebook version of A Game of Thrones . This map is notable as the first official map which shows all of Westeros combined w...

As an early Christmas present, Bantam Transworld have released an excerpt from Ian Cameron Esslemont's Orb, Sceptre, Throne , his fourth Malazan novel. This excerpt includes a new map of the continent of Genabackis, showing the hitherto-unseen southern edge of the continent, including the oft-mentioned Seguleh islands. This also means we can assemble a complete map of the continent for the first time: Interesting stuff. The novel is published in the UK on 19 January 2012.