Patrick Rothfuss hints that 'The Doors of Stone' may not be the last we read of his world

Anyone who has read the first two books in The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss will know that the series is simply outstanding. It is easily one of the best works of fantasy being published at the moment and, in much the same manner as GRRM is struggling to finish The Winds of Winter, Rothfuss is still far from finishing its third and final instalment - The Doors of Stone. In fact, the novel doesn't even have a release date yet and Rothfuss is reluctant to even give us a general idea of when we can expect the date to be set. It's frustrating waiting, especially since the second book in the trilogy came out way back in 2011! I'm not inclined to rush Rothfuss though and in the end, we'll get the book he wants us read and deserve as fans . . .

That doesn't mean that Rothfuss is completely quiet on the matter, however, and, although he's just confirmed in an interview that The Doors of Stone will be the last instalment of the trilogy that resolves the story arc, he has hinted that this will not be the last book he rights in that world! I suppose there's always a silver lining in everything, afterall!

Philip Pullman announces a follow up trilogy to 'His Dark Materials!'

So Philip Pullman may have faded into the background in recent years, but I'm sure we all remember his name to some degree and his internationally best selling trilogy His Dark Materials took the fantasy work by storm in the 90s, selling over 17.5 million copies that were translated into 40 different languages! These books captured many a teenagers mind and my imagination was most definitely snared; the series was among my favourites while I was growing up and, although I wasn't overly impressed by the cinematic adaptation of The Golden Compass, I must have read the actual books a dozen times.

Thus, I am excited to learn that after nearly two decades, Pullman has decided to return to the worlds of the series and plans to release a new trilogy as a follow up to His Dark Materials! Pullman has yet to reveal much about the contents of the new books, but has hinted that it will feature many of the original characters and, what is best of all, the first instalment--The Book of Dust--is set for publication on 19th October 2017! I think we've all got a pre-order to add to our Amazon accounts here and have a brilliant excuse for bit of reminiscent re-reading over the next few months!

Release date of The Core (Demon Cycle Book 5) is announced!

The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett is one of the most exciting fantasy series being written at the moment and has had a long run, with The Painted (Warded) Man being released back in 2008 in the UK and 2009 in the US. Brett has published the next instalment of the series every year or so since then, along with a number of subsidiary short stories, and it's grown to be a hugely successful series, selling over 2 million copies worldwide! I'm excited to learn that the release date for the fifth and final book in the series has been announced, with The Core being due to be released on the 10th August 2017 in the UK and 15th August in the US!

Needless to say, I can't wait (even though I have fallen behind with the series and still need to catch up on book 4) and I'm really looking forward to reading it. With the announcement, Brett has also written a pleasantly sentimental article about his experience writing the series and how it all began, which his fans might find interesting and can read on his blog here.

GRRM is all set to release a new aSoIaF short story!

We've all be waiting for The Winds of Winter to be released for years now and we all know that the sixth instalment of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire doesn't even have a release date (as of publishing this post). It's a long and frustrating wait to be sure, but I'm glad that everyone has started to get off GRRM's back about the delay - art can't be rushed and, in the end, we'll get the book he wants us to read eventually and we'll enjoy it a lot more than a rushed, error-filled 'fan-pleaser.'

The good news, however, is that GRRM's wetting our aSoIaF appetites in October 2017! He has written an anthology called Book of Swords, which contains 15 short stories, one of which is a never-before released story set in Westeros!

It's not the news we've all been hoping for, but it'll certainly be an interesting read and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy! The book, which is once again edited by Gardner Dozois, is available for pre-order on Amazon now!

J. K. Rowling announces three new Harry Potter books!

If you don't know that J. K. Rowling has recently released Harry Potter & the Cursed Child I'm not entirely sure where you've been for these last few months. Yet despite the hype, this has actually proved quite a scandal more than anything because despite there being some Potterheads who are overjoyed at having tickets for the play and getting a chance to sink their teeth into its script, not everyone--myself included--is that pleased. I have no desire to read through a tedious script of nothing but dialogue and I know that others agree, many of whom feel cheated that Rowling didn't release the story as a proper and fully-fledged novel for them.

Yet we don't have to be that disappointed and Pottermore has officially announced that there will be three new books set in the Potter world! I know this has all been very hush hush and I didn't believe it at first either, but the announcement is right here on the Pottermore site!

It looks like each of the new books will be an anthology that explores the mythology surrounding the Harry Potter books and many of the characters that have featured in the core series. What's more Pottermore claims that the three books will be released on 6th September, which is ludicrously soon and will really wet our appetites for the upcoming film, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, in November!

2016 is really shaping up to be a good year for Potterheads everywhere and I'm definitely looking forward to the new releases! Are you?

New Harry Potter Book Coming Summer '16!

It's been nearly a decade since J. K. Rowling published Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, but the Potter hype has never quite ended. The series has captivated millions of minds worldwide, whether through Rowling's books themselves or the Warner Brothers cinematic adaptations, and everyone has been asking the same question: when will the next chapter in Harry Potter's life be revealed.

The answer was given in 2015 when Rowling announced that she had developed a screenplay called Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, which describes Harry's life as an official for the Ministry of Magic seventeen years after the events of the last book. Excitement for the play was high and, obviously, it sold out in record time. This left millions of Harry Potter fans tasting bitter disappointment, but Rowling has just announced that she will be releasing the play's script as a book on 31st July 2016 after countless appeals! Her agents have confirmed that the play will be released in novel and ebook formats that will hopefully lead to more Potter novels!

Waterstones Releases the Ending of A Song of Ice & Fire!!!

What?! Waterstones has released the ending to A Song of Ice & Fire?! I probably thought exactly the same thing as you when I saw the article's headline pop up and could barely contain a sense of terrified, confused excitement. I'm a huge fan of the series and, since discovering George R. R. Martin, he has become one of my favourite authors. But should Waterstones have released the ending ahead of GRRM's books and HBO's television series?

My answer is 'no,' although, in all fairness, I don't know if Waterstones actually have. After a moment of weakness that I nearly acted on, I decided not to read the article and plan to wait for the upcoming books and series to have the story told properly. I did read the article's description though and apparently Waterstones have released the original outline of the epic series, which GRRM made when he was trying to sell his idea to publishers. The description said the storyline has since diverged somewhat, so who knows how similar the ending will be to GRRM's original idea now ASoIaF has matured.

I guess you have the choice to find out for yourself and can read the article here. To read or not to read? The choice is yours and only one thing is certain, there's no turning back if you go through the looking glass . . .

GRRM is all set to release A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a prequel to ASoIaF!

Anybody who's familiar with George R. R. Martin, who is often affectionately called GRRM by his fans, will know that he is writing a hugely complex work of fantasy intrigue called A Song of Ice & Fire. These critically acclaimed novels are international best sellers in themselves and have been adapted into Game of Thrones, one of television's biggest shows.

While it is taking GRRM a long time to write The Winds of Winter, the sixth instlment of the series, he is managing to get a few spin-off novels into print. He released The World of Ice & Fire in 2014 and now has another book ready, which comprises all three prequel novellas about Aegon Targaryen's early life, where he is know as Egg and squires for Ser Duncan the Tall . . .

I expect that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be a must-read for any ASoIaF fan and is available for preorder now, being set for release on 6th October 2015! I think this book is well worth watching out for and will provide a much needed Westerosi fix! One that I'm certainly eager to get!

Release Date of Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' Is Announced!

The Martian by Andy Weir is one of my favourite books ever and is firmly placed on my Shelf of Fame. It's not just me who has recognised its quality and the book was actually voted the best science fiction novel of 2014 in the Goodreads Choice Awards! Without going into too much detail, which can be read in my review, the story outlines the struggles of Mark Watney when he is stranded alone on Mars. Presumed dead by his ship-mates, NASA and the peoples of Earth, Watney must use the scant resources available to him to produce food, water, oxygen and, ultimately, find a way to send a message back home . . .

You can understand then why I was excited to learn that Ridley Scott had taken an interest in the book when he announced that he would be adapting The Martian into a feature-length movie staring Matt Damon as Mark Watney. The book will undoubtedly adapt well to a film and it's original release date of March 2016 has recently been moved forward to 25th Novemeber 2015! This is a huge announcement for science fiction fans and Scott's The Martian will probably be one of the biggest sci fi films of the year! If you don't believe me, there's plenty of time to grab a copy of the book and see for yourself before the film is released!

Scott has now released the official trailer for the movie, along with two teaser trailers to wet our appetites:

GRRM Releases Another Excerpt From 'The Winds of Winter'

George R. R. Martin has just released a new excerpt from his upcoming novel, The Winds of Winter, the next instalment of his popular and critically acclaimed series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Although this isn't quite as exciting as announcing a release date for the book, it's certainly interesting and provides a good teaser for the widely anticipated sequel.

The excerpt, which can be read on his website, features the Lady Alayne as the PoV character, who is apparently being forced into a political marriage. For obvious reasons, I don't know enough about the plot to speculate on this too much, but Lord Petyr Baelish is involved in the scene so the arrangement can't be good for Alayne! Anyway, never mind what I think and read the excerpt for yourself - afterall, it's only a click away!

The Complete Collection of the Revenant Wyrd Saga Is Released

December has been a big month for Travis Simmons and as well as seeing the release of The Turquoise Tower, the final instalment of his acclaimed Revenant Wyrd Saga, it has also seen the release of the complete collection of the series! The Complete Revenant Wyrd Saga is available from Amazon now (UK and USA) and contains all six books in the series:

Book 1: The Bonds of Blood
Book 2: The Mirror of the Moon
Book 3: The Well of Wyrding
Book 4: A Guardian of Shadows
Book 5: On Wings of Chaos
Book 6: The Turquoise Tower

Regrettably, I've fallen behind with this series, but I plan to remedy this soon and I'm eager to see how it all ends! The Revenant Wyrd Saga is an example of high fantasy at its best and is filled with magic, monsters and peril as it narrates the adventures of its heroes against a stunning backdrop of a broken world. It's definitely a series for your 'to-read' list and the ones I've read would make a perfect evening's reading this Christmas!

The Demon Cycle Book 4 release date is announced!

Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle is one the best fantasy series being written at the moment and the release date of the forth book in the series has just been announced! The book is called The Skull Throne and is due to be released 24th March 2015!

Unfortunately, there's very little information about the book available online at this stage, but its cover has been released and can be viewed on Goodreads here.

Upcoming anthology: 'Rogues' by George R. R. Martin et al

Hi all,

Here's a quick message to all of you fantasy fans out there, who might be interested to learn of a new anthology that will be released soon (although there's no publication date as of yet). The anthology is called Rogues and features 21 stories from some of the biggest authors in the fantasy genre, including a new Song of Ice and Fire story by George R. R. Martin and a piece by Patrick Rothfuss himself!

The full list of featured authors (as it stands at the moment) is:

• George R. R. Martin
• Patrick Rothfuss
• Joe Abercrombie
• Daniel Abraham
• David W. Ball
• Paul Cornell
• Bradley Denton
• Phyllis Eisenstein
• Gillian Flynn
• Neil Gaiman
• Matthew Hughes
• Joe R. Lansdale
• Scott Lynch
• Garth Nix
• Cherie Priest
• Steven Saylor
• Michael Swanwick
• Lisa Tuttle
• Carrie Vaughn
• Walter Jon Williams
• Connie Willis

I'm certainly going to keep my eye on this one and will let you know once a release date has been set!

The Well of Wyrding is released today!

Hi all,

It's a big day today as Travis Simmons has finally released the third book in his Revenant Wyrd Saga, The Well of Wyrding! Being good friends with Travis, I was actually lucky enough to beta read the book for him and can promise that it's as exciting and encaptivating as the earlier installments of the series (The Bonds of Blood and The Mirror of the Moon).

"In the fantastical lands of the Great Realms, Angelica, Jovian, and Joya are on the search for their older sister Amber, who has been kidnapped by the villain, Porillon. But Amber has slipped away from all of them, and where she has gone is as big a mystery as why she was taken.

While they are searching for their sister, Porillon strikes a staggering blow to the entire land.

The Well of Wyrding, a mythic well which contains the magic and fate of every creature in the Great Realms, has been poisoned creating havoc as the magic power of wyrd becomes toxic.

While Grace, Rosalee, and Dalah seek a way to purify the Well of Wyrding, wyrd is going haywire, buildings fashioned with wyrd are turning to pinnacles of terror; wyrd is working against its casters; and people are taking up arms against the threat sorcerers and their kind pose.

But the toxic wyrd is causing a new problem to arise. They are called caustics: those wyrders who have been completely taken over by their chaotic wyrd. Husks of what they once were, they are now a vessel for Chaos in the realms."

Hopefully, this blurb (which I've lifted of the book's Facebook page) will be enough to convince you of its merit! If you are already familiar with the series, get yourself onto Amazon ASAP! If you aren't and really fancy getting your teeth into a complex, imaginative fantasy epic, then The Revernant Wyrd Saga is definitely for you!

The Kingkiller Chronicle Book 2.5 is announced!

Okay, so this isn't the big news I was hoping for (i.e. the soon-to-be release date of The Doors of Stone), but Patrick Rothfuss has announced that he'll soon be publishing a companion novella to The Kingkiller Chronicle! The book, which will be released on 28th October 2014, is called The Slow Regard of Silent Things and effectively forms book 2.5 in the series!

From what I've read about the novella, it doesn't actually feature around Kvothe, but Auri - a character that anyone who's read the series will be familiar with. Going from my experience with Rothuss' beautiful prose writing and masterful story-telling, The Slow Regard of Silent Things should prove to be one of the year's best reads and will certainly wet any fan's appetite for the upcoming end to his critically acclaimed series!

Fox has 'The Kingkiller Chronicle' all set for a TV series!

Yesterday evening, the most epic thing happened to me since I discovered A Song of Ice and Fire in my second year of uni - I learnt that Fox has optioned Patrick Rothfuss's stunning Kingkiller Chronicle for a TV series!

Teaming up with New Regent Productions, Fox are considering dramatising The Kingkiller Chronicle into a television series. There is very little information about this plan available so far (both companies seem to have surprisingly little news on their sites), but Eric Heisserer's* name has been thrown around as a possible executive producer for the show, which suggests that it might be portrayed in a dark style similar to that of the books.

The Kingkiller Chronicle is definitely one of my favourite series of all time so, despite my excitement, I have mixed feelings about this whole idea. Will Fox deviate too much from the books? Will they cast a rubbish Kvothe? Or, more importantly, will there be a repeat of the whole Firefly incident (which, yes, I doubt I'll ever stop whining about or forgive them for)?

I'm sure that there'll be many critics who ask these questions, but I'm hopeful that they won't make an absolute hash of it. I think that HBO's dramatisation of A Song of Ice and Fire has shown just how good a series can be by staying as true to a book's story as possible, while really growing the loyalty of a dedicated fan base behind it. If we're lucky, Fox will have twigged and we can expect a show that is as epic as the books and, like the books, one that is good enough to rival Game of Thrones itself!


* most known for The Thing (2011) and A Nightmare of Elm's Street (2010)

J. K. Rowling has written a secret crime novel!

After her phenomenal success with the cult Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling has hinted several times that she would like to publish any new books she writes under a pseudonym. Rowling had not previously confirmed if she had done this yet, but it has recently come to light that she has written a crime novel under the name of 'Robert Galbraith'.

The novel, which is called The Cuckoo's Calling, is about a war veteran who becomes a private investigator after retiring from armed service. The book has sold around 1, 500 copies* since it was released in April and Rowling has said that "it has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation". She is slightly disappointed that the secret has emerged so soon, but writers in the Sunday Times became skeptical that a debut writer could produce such "accomplished work". They consequently investigated the matter and were surprised to find that Galbraith and Rowling not only had the same agent and editor as each other, but were both publishing with Sphere, which is part of the Little, Brown Book Group that published The Casual Vacancy late last year.

Rowling has said that "being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience" and clearly plans to continue writing under the pseudonym as there is already a sequel in the pipeline, which is due to be published sometime next year.


* at the time this post was published

'Desolation' release date

Recently, I have been lucky enough to have beta read Travis Simmons' latest novel. The book, which is called Desolation, is due to be released on the 11th June 2013 and is a rather unique zombie apocalypse survival story; made so by Simmons' enthralling blend of fantasy and horror.

I won't reveal the plot of the book to you, nor tell you about any of its events, but I will suggest that you add its release date to your calendar, as it's definitely a book to look out for and invest your time in!

'The Beating Of His Wings' release date

It has recently been confirmed that The Beating of His Wings, the final instalment of Paul Hoffman's Left Hand of God trilogy, will be released on the 18th July 2013! Sadly, this is a bit later than the previous and more optimistic estimates of an April launch but I guess that doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things and followers of the series with know the fate of Thomas Cale and the ruthless Redeemers soon enough!

'The World of Ice and Fire' release date

Although the next instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire doesn't look to be finished any time soon, George R. R. Martin does have some good news for us and on the 29th October 2013, The World of Ice and Fire is set to be released.

The book, which is written by Martin along with the help of Elio M. Garcia and Linda Antonsson from westeros.org, is an account of the official history behind ASoIaF and describes the first Dance of Dragons - a fratricidal civil war between King Aegon II Targaryen and his half-sister, Rhaenyra.

Martin has announced that he is writing the book, which will also describe a rich and detailed history of Westeros in general, through the eyes of several POV characters just as he does in the rest of ASoIaF. These characters are known to be a variety of maesters, since using their educated viewpoints will allow Martin to have a greater level of creative freedom to tell the nation's expectedly bloody history through multiple and custom viewpoints.

Although announcing The World of Ice and Fire's release date isn't quite as exciting as announcing the one for The Winds of Winter will be, the book certainly looks intriguing and is already on my 'to read' list - promising to sate my appetite for ASoIaF at least for the time being. Martin has said that the book has "turned into a monster" and I expect that it will undoubtedly prove to be an invaluable companion for any 'hard core' fan of the series, much like J. R. R. Tolkien's Silmarillion is for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.