New Game of Thrones Trailer and News About Winds of Winter

A lot of Game of Thrones news has broken out today, the first one being the leaked trailer from Season 5:

I won’t go into a lot since I know what happens, but the trailer is good, it shows just about everyone, we know that this season will not have Bran.  I did like the glimpses of the Sand Snakes, Prince Oberyn’s daughters, they are amazing characters.  Still upset that my fav character from the Dorne will not be in this season.  As you can see there will be some things happening at The Wall.  Tyrion has been taken somewhere safe by The Spider.  Arya has also found a place to go.  Cersei will be dealing with her father’s death and Margery well I think we all knew that she was going to become Queen again.  There will be a lot happening this season as they start-up books 4 and 5.

I don’t know how much longer I can keep calm

Speaking of the book, it looks like we will be waiting another year for Winds of Winter.  George R. R. Martin’s publisher has said that the book will not be out this year.  There is a lot going into the book, most writers put this much work into 3 books apparently.  Anyone who has read the books can a test to how much information is put into each one.

While we wait we will be getting 3 prequel novellas: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight.  While having these novellas will definitely help past the time, I really want Winds of Winter. Soon I am going to forget what happened in books 4 and 5.  I am hoping that we will see Winds of Winter in 2016, because then the show will be getting close.  The only good thing is that they have at least 3 season with books 4 and 5, that gives George R. R. Martin this year to get it done.

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The New ‘Star Wars’ Movies will not Include the Expanded Universe

With the new Star Wars movie being made I know everyone including myself has been speculating about what stories from the expanded universe they are going to use.  Well Lucasfilm has made a statement about the expanded universe:

“Lucas always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU. He set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.”

I agree with this and have always agreed with this, that what Lucas wrote is canon.  Many of the EU authors agree as well since what he wrote has been incorporated into many of the novels, I am finding many instances of what Lucas created in The Legacy of the Force series that I am currently reading.

“In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in roleplaying game material published in the 1980s.”

This could mean that some elements from the EU might be included into the film.  What elements, I am not sure but there is a chance that some of our beloved character might not be included.  That makes me sad because Jaina Solo is my favorite Star Wars character.  I know many people were hoping to see Mara Jade who I will admit is an amazing character, the likely hood is that we will not be seeing her.

Since the new film will be dealing with life after Episode VI, Disney and Lucasfilms have reached a decision about how to handle things going forth.

“Now, with an exciting future filled with new cinematic installments of Star Wars, all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected. Under Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s direction, the company for the first time ever has formed a story group to oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development.”

“We have an unprecedented slate of new Star Wars entertainment on the horizon,” said Kennedy. “We’re set to bring Star Wars back to the big screen, and continue the adventure through games, books, comics, and new formats that are just emerging. This future of interconnected storytelling will allow fans to explore this galaxy in deeper ways than ever before.”

Everything going forth will be uniformed, that does not mean they are getting rid of our beloved stories and characters, all of those novels will still be available, under a new legacy banner.  If they choose not to use any of these characters in the new movie then we will not be seeing any new tales involving them.  I don’t know about the rest of you but I am kind of hoping that they will decide to use the Skywalker/Solo family.  I would love to see more from them, well I would love to see more from Jaina.

New canon stuff is coming and we will be able to check them out:

“On the screen, the first new canon to appear will be Star Wars Rebels. In print, the first new books to come from this creative collaboration include novels from Del Rey Books. First to be announced, John Jackson Miller is writing a novel that precedes the events of Star Wars Rebels and offers insight into a key character’s backstory, with input directly from executive producers Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman.”

What do you think about the EU probably not being used in the new Star Wars films, books, video games, etc.?

George R. R. Martin releases a New Chapter for ‘The Winds of Winter’

George R. R. Martin promised us that he would release a new chapter for The Winds of Winter this month.  Here is an except from that chapter.

She woke with a gasp, not knowing who she was, or where.

The smell of blood was heavy in her nostrils… or was that her nightmare, lingering? She had dreamed of wolves again, of running through some dark pine forest with a great pack at her hells, hard on the scent of prey.

Half-light filled the room, grey and gloomy. Shivering, she sat up in bed and ran a hand across her scalp. Stubble bristled against her palm. I need to shave before Izembaro sees. Mercy, I’m Mercy, and tonight I’ll be raped and murdered. Her true name was Mercedene, but Mercy was all anyone ever called her…

The rest of the chapter can be found here on George R. R. Martin’s official page , everyone is trying to get on there so it might take a while.

The chapter is called ‘Mercy’, who the chapter happens to be about.

(Spoiler)

Those of us who are caught up on the book know that this is actually an Arya chapter.  George R. R. Martin claims that this is actually an old chapter one that he has written a long time ago.

We are still waiting for a released date on The Winds of Winter, I know many of us hope that it will be soon.

J. R. R. Tolkien’s Beowulf will be published

New broke out recently that after 90 years J. R. R. Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf will finally be published.  According to Tolkien’s son Christopher, Tolkien did not do think this book would be published.  J. R. R. Tolkien did have this to say about the Beowulf poem:

“laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination”, saying that “the whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real”.

Beowulf is an 11th century epic poem, which tells the tale of a Geatish prince who becomes a hero by aiding the Danish King.  Beowulf slays the monster Grendel and his mother.  Unfortunately Beowulf will be killed by a dragon years later.

The book Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary will be hitting bookshelves on May 22, 2014.  The book will include Tolkien’s translation of the poem, his lectures from Oxford and a his short story Sellic Spell.

Anne Rice is back with a New Lestat Novel.

Anne Rice is back to the world of vampires, she will be releasing a new book in Oct, called Prince Lestat. This book will be a sequel to her Vampire Chronicles series. It will very specifically be a sequel to the Queen of the Damned. She announced all of this on The Dinner Party Show, which is a podcast hosted by her son Christopher Rice who is also an author.

Anne Rice had briefly given up writing supernatural stories for a time being and instead wrote Christian themed novels. She has since re-found her love for supernatural stories and is back to writing the vampire stories that we all know and love.

It was said that this book shows what is happening with all the characters, so maybe that means we will see Louie again and some of our other favorite characters.  If you want to see more about what she said check out the video below.  Anne Rice is already signed to write a second book in this upcoming series.

Prince Lestat will be available to buy on Oct 28th, but you can start pre-ordering it on March 15th.

George R. R. Martin has released a teaser excerpt from The Winds of Winter

For those of us who are very patiently (I do say that with sarcasm) waiting for The Winds of Winter to finally come out.  I know, I have not been waiting as long as some people have.  While there is no release date for The Wind of Winter as of yet, I know many of us wonder if there will ever be one.  George R. R. Martin has given us an excerpt from a Tyrion chapter to help tide us over.

“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.“

We can expect an update from The Winds of Winter soon, which will include a few new characters and location descriptions.  It will also include more from Tyrion’s chapter.

George R. R. Martin has acknowledged that the show is getting done a lot quicker then he is writing the remaining 2 books.  He might need to spend a bit more time writing.  On the plus side George R. R. Martin did tell the creators of the Game of Thrones TV Show how he planned to end it.  At least we know that they can continue the story.

Until then, we are just going to have to enjoy the few teaser chapters that we get.  At least we will have season 4 of Game of Thrones to help tide us over.

I don’t know how much longer I can keep calm