The Book of Magic, featuring a story by George R.R. Martin, gets release date and cover
By Corey Smith
We’re still not sure when the sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, will come out. But fans of author George R.R. Martin will will have several chances to buy his work this year. First, in May, Tor Books will rerelease his novella Nightflyers ahead of a TV adaptation on SyFy. Then, one of his stories will show up in The Book of Magic, a fantasy anthology edited by Martin’s longtime friend Gardner Dozois and published by Penguin Random House. Check out the cover:
The Book of Magic will focus on “celebrating the witches and sorcerers of epic fantasy.” Set for release on October 16, the 528-page tome will also include stories by authors Scott Lynch, Megan Lindholm, K. J. Parker, John Crowley, Matthew Hughes, Ysabeau S. Wilce, Rachel Pollack, Eleanor Arnason, Tim Powers, Liz Williams, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Lavie Tidhar, Greg Van Eekhout, Andy Duncan and Kate Elliott.
The Book of Magic is a follow-up to The Book of Swords, another fantasy anthology…except that it revolved around swords instead of magic. Above, Dozois mentions that books called The Book of Beasts and The Book of Legends are on the way. You get the idea.
As you can see, Martin also contributed a story to The Book of Swords. In that case, it was a previously unreleased piece of work called The Sons of the Dragon, an account of the reigns of Aenys I Targaryen and Maegor I Targaryen, the latter of whom was known as “Maegor the Cruel.”
Martin confirmed in a blog post that the story that appears in The Book of Magic will NOT be new, but instead “a reprint.” As for what story it will be, there’s a lot to choose from. Hopefully we’ll get something new from Martin this year as well, whether it’s Fire and Blood, his history of the Targaryen family, or even The Winds of Winter…
Next: Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) reveals season 8 is “about halfway through filming”
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