Games

Forbes has published its annual list of the world's fifteen biggest-selling authors, with almost half the list clocking in as SFF writers. Riding high, as may be expected given his recent critical and commercial return to form, is Stephen King. King comes in at #2 on the list, having earned $39 million in 2011 (compared to first-place James Patterson, who scored a whopping $94 million). Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games trilogy, reaped the rewards of pre-movie success by earning $20 million, placing her at #9 on the list. Just behind her is perennial mega-earner Dean Koontz, who scored $19 million to reach #10. J.K. Rowling is at #11, heaving earned $17 million in 2011. An impressive achievement, given that her last novel came out four years earlier. Buoyed by the success of the HBO TV series, George R.R. Martin appears at #12, having apparently earned $15 million in 2011 (and having shifted between 8 and 9 million copies of his novels in that year alone). Impressive, a...

On October 21st, the town of Chester's Mill in Maine is abruptly sealed off from the outside world by a mysterious barrier. Several cars and aircraft crash into the 'Dome', causing serious injuries and several fatalities. The US government moves swiftly to seal off the area and attempt to pierce the Dome through technological means. However, inside the Dome events rapidly deteriorate as a local town politician takes advantage of the chaos to try to take over the town, sparking a chain of events that will end in tragedy. Originally published in 2009, Under the Dome was notable for several reasons at release. It was King's first really big, one-off horror novel in a considerable number of years. It was also a book that King had been trying to write on and off since 1976, but had bounced off as it was 'too ambitious'. From the writer of the complex Dark Tower sequence and the large, sprawling The Stand , this was an impressive comment. After reading the finished no...

Some upcoming cover art: Gollancz in the UK are reissuing their George R.R. Martin books in new covers. Neither The Armageddon Rag nor Tuf Voyaging have been available in UK editions for well over twenty years. Incidentally, the Eye of Sauron is on the cover of The Armageddon Rag as it's about a rock band called the Nazgul. Meanwhile, the UK paperback editions of A Dance with Dragons launch in late March. Incidentally, this leaves the UK paperback sequence of A Song of Ice and Fire now listed as: A Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Ice and Fire A Clash of Kings: Book Two of A Song of Ice and Fire A Storm of Swords - Steel and Snow: Book Three Part One of A Song of Ice and Fire A Storm of Swords - Blood and Gold: Book Three Part Two of A Song of Ice and Fire A Feast for Crows: Book Four of A Song of Ice and Fire A Dance with Dragons - Dreams and Dust: Book Five Part One of A Song of Ice and Fire A Dance with Dragons - After the Feast: Book Five Part Two of A Song of Ice and F...

HBO has stepped up to the plate and picked up the Dark Tower TV project. The extremely ambitious adaptation of Stephen King's seven-volume novel series consists of a TV series and several interlinked theatrical movies. HBO has taken on the TV leg of the project, whilst producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer have reduced the budget of the first movie by $45 million, apparently making the project viable again. Javier Bardem remains attached to the role of Roland Deschain. Good news. This project sounded insanely ambitious, perhaps even unrealistically so, but cool that it seems to be back on the drawing board. HBO also seem to be continuing their foray into the fantastical, adding The Dark Tower to a fantasy line-up now consisting of True Blood , Game of Thrones and the forthcoming American Gods .