Game of Thrones The Complete First Season on Blu-Ray

The Blu-Ray will have the following exclusive items:

• The Complete Guide to Westeros: an interactive guide to Westeros and Essos, their key locations and noble houses etc. There are also 24 exclusive histories of the Seven Kingdoms told by the characters.
• Anatomy of an Episode: a guide to the creation of an episode from start to finish, in this case the sixth episode, A Golden Crown.
• In-Episode Guides: in-feature infoboxes that provide information about characters, locations and histories whilst each episode plays.
• Hidden Dragon Easter Eggs: find the hidden dragon eggs to unlock more exclusive content.

The following features will appear on both DVD and Blu-Ray:

• Making Game of Thrones: a 30-minute documentary about the series.
• Creating the Show Open: a featurette about how the opening title sequence was crafted.
• From the Book to the Screen: George R.R. Martin, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discuss the issues involved in bringing the novel to the screen.
• Character Profiles: profiles of fifteen major characters, provided by the actors playing them.
• The Night's Watch: an in-depth look at the men of the Night's Watch.
• Creating the Dothraki Language: a feature on how the Dothraki language was created for the show.
• Audio Commentaries: Seven audio commentaries with cast and crew including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington and more.

Coming out on March 6, 2012. Can. Not. Wait.

Cover art for Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings

Definitely not my favorite cover of the trilogy, but looks pretty nice. You can pre-order on Subterranean's website.

New cover for Subterranean's special edition of Deadhouse Gates

After the less-than-inspiring cover that was released about a month ago, Subterranean released a new one, and I dare say it looks way better. Also, the scene depicted on it makes a lot more sense as cover art.

Limited edition of A Dance with Dragons

Subterranean announced their limited edition of Martin's fifth ASoIF book. More info here.

Personally, I find the artwork devastatingly uninspired, but we'll see when the finished cover shows up.

Deadhouse Gates limited edition

The limited Subterranean edition of Steven Erikson's Deadhouse Gates finally has a cover. I want to say something nice, but it looks pretty uninspired to me, and way more forgettable than the Gardens of the Moon one. Also, It would seem to me that when you are publishing a 10-book series, you don't want to wait for four years in between books.

Anyway, if you are interested, here is the link to pre-order it.

Star Wars blu-ray release covers

I don't know how new those are, but I just saw them for the first time, and I think all three of them are positively gorgeous. Now, I know fans have been complaining about a lot of stuff concerning the new blu-ray editions. It seems they will be upscales rather than true HD, the original versions are missing, the new deleted scenes aren't made part of the movies as they should have, and there are almost no new documentaries.

But... it's a blu-ray release of Star Wars for frak's sake! And especially the complete set with its nine discs has a lot going for it, at least in the eyes of a non tech savvy humble fan such as myself. This is something that I will be buying on the day of its release if I have the financial capability at the time.

So anyway, here are the arts of the separate trilogies:








As for the specs of the sets, they can be found in the official Star Wars site.

Reprints, special editions and tie-ins of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire

It's been a crazy month for A Song of Ice and Fire News, what with the show coming soon, and the release date for A Dance With Dragons. Now Bantam Spectra has announced the rerelease covers (which are basically the UK art with a "HEY, BTW THERE IS A SHOW BASED ON THIS!!!" line on top), and Winter is Coming has dug up the cover of the show tie-in edition of A Game of Thrones (look above) which looks positively fantastic, and for the first time in my life I am sorely tempted to actually double dip on a tie-in just for the artwork. And finally, Subterranean are planning a reissue of the limited editions of the first two books, which, thankfully, I find positively hideous and am therefore not tempted by.

So yeah, it's nice being a fan right now.

The Lord of the Rings extended editions finally come to Blu-Ray

Finally, after years of waiting and a ridiculous amount of frustration of after the release of the half-bottomed cinematic version box set, the Powers That Be have decided to release The Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-Ray in its proper - that is, extended - form. The set doesn't have a specific release date yet, but my guess is either Summer or Christmas 2011. Here's the Amazon.com page for those interested in the details. I'm definitely buying this one the day it comes out.

Cover art for the Subterranean edition of Perdido Street Station

No idea how new this one is, but I find it utterly gorgeous, and as such - worthy of posting. This dust jacket, just like the inner illustrations, has been done by Edward Miller. Here is the page on Subterranean's site, although - sadly - the book is already sold out.

Subterranean offers a limited edition of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys

Subterranean is offering three different types of limited edition of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. Even though the page for the book lists it as "sold out", I received the e-mail today, which suggests that this should change. So if you're interested in some spicy Gaiman action, keep an eye on Subterranean's site.

Artwork from the upcoming limited edition of Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged

Subterranean are preparing a limited edition of Joe Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged - the second book in his First Law trilogy. Alexander Preuss, who did the art for The Blade Itself, is once again handling the project, and judging by this promo, he's doing just as great a job, as he did with the first book.

For more info, go to Subterranean's page for the book.

New Gene Wolfe, China Mieville and Paolo Bacigalupi offerings from Subterranean

Subterranean will be publishing limited editions of Gene Wolfe's upcoming Home Fires and China Mieville's Embassytown, as well as Paolo Bacigalupi's award-winning The Windup Girl. So far Wolfe's book is the only one that has a cover art (above). As for the other two, Embassytown will once again feature a dust jacket by Vincent Chong who did Kraken, and The Windup Girl will feature the two short stories that the novel grew from, as well as a new introduction by the author and interior illustration. More information on those books when it becomes available. Personally, all three of them look very tempting to me.

Deadhouse Gates Limited Edition

Subterranean Press announced that the limited edition of Stephen Erikson's Deadhouse Gates is finally nearing publication. J.K. Drummond has taken the reins from the amazing Michael Komarck, as scheduling conflicts didn't allow the artist of Gardens of the Moon to continue with the project. However, Drummond is more than up to the challenge if the covers for Daniel Abraham's Leviathan Wept and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi's The Alchemist and Tobias S. Buckel's The Executioness are any indication.

So far only the owners of Gardens of the Moon can pre-order the forthcoming Deadhouse Gates, but for anyone else interested, here's the page.

A Profound Personal Tragedy!

I just got an e-mail from Subterranean that the deluxe edition of China Mieville's Kraken is out and shipping. And that made me realize with painful clarity that none of those gorgeous hardcovers is shipping in my direction. Thought the world should know of my pain. I mean, what else are blogs for?!

Avatar: Special Edition announced

Amazon has the collector's extended edition of James Cameron's Avatar up for pre-order. After the mockery that the previous edition was, fans are finally getting what this particular movie deserved all along. In a grossly overpriced format of course, but for those of us who were firm in our beliefs and said NO to double dipping and Fox's infinite greed, it is the only edition. I completely ignored the previous "VHS"-ed., and I am hoping many of you did the same.

The Collector's Edition of Avatar comes to DVD and BD on November 16