It was twenty years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. But for the guys in the band, it probably did not seem that long.

A GAME OF THRONES was published in 1996. In 2016, to celebrate the twentienth anniversary, Bantam Spectra published a special deluxe leatherbound edition of the novel, lavishly and beautifully illustrated, with an introduction by John Hodgman.

The anniversary edition was a big success, and is still selling strongly two years later. (If you’d like to snag an autographed copy, you can get one from the bookstore at the Jean Cocteau. We are out of stock at the moment, but we have more on order, and I will be defacing them with my illegible scrawl as soon as they come in — which will, alas, probably not be in time for Xmas).

So… drum roll please… we’ve going to do it again.

The second volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, A CLASH OF KINGS, was published in 1999. (Seems like yesterday, honestly. And I still recall the three years between books, when readers would email me to ask what was taking so long for book two, since Other Fantasy Author [fill in your choice] put out a book a year, rain or shine, and why was I taking so long? Sigh. Those were the days, when I was only two years late). Next year will mark the twentieth anniversary of its release, so Bantam Spectra will be doing a deluxe leatherbound edition of CLASH as well.

As with GOT, the anniversary edition will be lavishly illustrated with both color plates and black and white.

Our artist this time around will be an amazing young talent named LAUREN CANNON. You can see some samples of her work on her own website, here: http://navate.com/ I love her paintings, and we’re all looking forward to working with her, and seeing her unique take on my world and characters.

Current Mood: cheerful