A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audible
Written by George R.R. Martin
Illustrated by Gary Gianni
Bantam Press
Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Dunk was a squire turned knight 100 years before the events in A Game of Thrones. He had just buried his hedge knight before striking out to seek his fortune (or at least a steady roof and meal). He encounters Egg, a weird little bald boy who pushes to become his squire. After naming himself Ser Duncan the Tall (rumored to be related to Brienne of Tarth), they head to a tourney at Ashford Castle, where Dunk has one shot to win or lose his armor, thus ending his short, knightly career. The tourney has competitions between such names as Targaryen, Tully, Lannister, and Baratheon. How could he possibly compete? To top off everything, he gets himself in serious hot water for being chivalrous, plus Egg has a giant secret. And that is just the beginning of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin.

More below (a few spoilers if you haven’t read yet and plan to).

A Game Of Thrones #6
Based on the novel by George R.R. Martin
Adapted by Daniel Abraham
Art by Tommy Patterson
Colors by Ivan Nunes
Letters by Marshall Dillon
Cover by Mike S. Miller
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 29, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

This month in A Game Of Thrones #6 we deal mainly with interpersonal relationships between the characters, helping to feed the already twisting plots. Allies are not always to be trusted, nor are enemies always the most dangerous. George R.R. Martin‘s debut novel is brought to the comic reader in breathtaking fashion.

We begin by seeing Jon Snow humiliating one of his “brothers” of the Night’s Watch. Not his finest hour nor an intelligent move on his part. Luckily, he quickly sees the folly of his ways, just as his father, Eddard Stark, knows that being hundreds of leagues away in King’s Landing is perilous on multiple levels. Surprisingly, he discovers his wife is nearby and being hidden in a most unusual place. Again, not everything is as it seems.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at TeeFury today is a Game Of Thrones-themed shirt called “Team Eddard” by GrlizzyBear.

The sale began at Teefury today, Saturday, February 25, 2012, at midnight EST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

2011 was a big year for doorstopper-sized fantasy novels, particularly A Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin, which is a whopping 1,040 pages. It sold 298,000 copies on its first day alone, which included 170,000 hardcovers, 110,000 eBooks, and 18,000 audiobooks, proving that although ebook sales are catching up, print is still ahead for big releases like this.

Another major series that got a hugely anticipated sequel came in the form of Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear, which continues the events of The Name of the Wind and propels Kvothe into an even more compelling situations. Canadian horror also got a few notable entries with Enter, Night and Dead of Winter, both historical fiction novels and both superbly written. Small and mid-sized presses continue to produce some of the best genre fiction out there, and this year proved no exception.

Here’s my picks for the Top 10 Fantasy and Horror Books of 2011.

Author George R.R. Martin‘s book series A Song of Ice and Fire got a major boast in popularity thanks its hit television adaptation, HBO’s Game Of Thrones. The fifth installment in the saga, A Dance with Dragons, which was released this Summer, was one of the most highly anticipated and well-received books of 2011.

Now, the author has posted an excerpt at his website from The Winds of Winter, the next book in the series!