The World of Ice & Fire
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First edition cover
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Song of Ice and Fire |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Published | October 28, 2014 |
| Publisher | Bantam |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 326 |
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The World of Ice & Fire is a companion book for George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. Written by Martin, Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson, it was published by Bantam on October 28, 2014. The 326-page volume is a fully illustrated "history compendium" of Martin's fictional Westeros, written from the prospective of an in-world "Maester" and featuring newly written material, family trees, and extensive maps and artwork.
Elio García and Linda Antonsson head the A Song of Ice and Fire fansite Westeros.org.George R. R. Martin enlisted them in 2008 to assist with the project, which at the time he believed would be finished "in just a couple of years." García is a Martin "superfan" whom the author and HBO have consulted on details previously established by Martin in the series. Addressing comparisons of The World of Ice & Fire to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, Martin clarified that while his book provides a basic overview of the many areas of his fictional world and their histories, he plans to someday publish a more extensive volume focusing primarily on the Targaryens, which he jokingly dubbed The GRRMarillion. As plans for an eventual second companion book became more solidified, Martin said that it would more formally be titled "Fire and Blood", because it gives expanded detail on the reign of each Targaryen king.
Martin commented that the format of The World of Ice & Fire is intentionally a replication of a "real history book" in which sources can contradict each other. He also noted that he worked closely with the artists to render the characters and locales as he himself imagined them, as opposed to how they may be portrayed in HBO's Game of Thrones series and other media, such as comic books and games.
Martin teased the book in July 2013 with a blog post praising Marc Simonetti's rendering of the Iron Throne as definitive, compared to the TV series version. Upon the 2014 release of The World of Ice & Fire, he called its representation of the throne by Simonetti "absolutely right". Martin said he had wanted the book to be a fully illustrated volume with art from "the top fantasy illustrators in the world."The World of Ice & Fire features the work of 27 illustrators: Rene Aigner, Ryan Barger, Arthur Bozonnet, José Daniel Cabrera Peña, Jennifer Sol Cai, Thomas Denmark, Jennifer Drummond, Jordi González Escamilla, Michael Gellatly, Tomasz Jedruszek, Michael Komarck, John McCambridge, Mogri, Ted Nasmith, Karla Ortiz, Rahedie Yudha Pradito, Dhian Prasetya, Paolo Puggioni, Jonathan Roberts, Thomas Siagian, Marc Simonetti, Chase Stone, Philip Straub, Justin Sweet, Nutchapol Thitinunthakorn, Magali Villeneuve and Douglas Wheatley.
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