Gigamesh has been publishing A Song of Ice and Fire books in Spain for years, but can no longer afford the rising fees asked by Random House:
George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series is tremendously popular. It was popular even before Game of Thrones took off like a rocket at HBO, and its fame has only grown since then.
In any case, it’s known throughout the world and published in several languages. For years, Catalan publisher Gigamesh has been publishing the series in Spain, but recently announced they would have to stop.
According to fansite Los Siete Reinos, this is because Gigamesh was unable to pay the high fee Bantam Random House demanded for the Spanish publishing rights for The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in Martin’s series.
Spain is home to a large number of passionate Game of Thrones fanbase — just look at the fans mobbing the actors when they were there to shoot the show — so this is sad news for many. A lot of fans took to Twitter to pay their respects with the hashtag #GraciasGigamesh. Enrique Corominas, who did the art for the covers of the Spanish editions of the books, thanked the fans for their support:
¡Otra noticia taaan 2020! @EGigamesh no seguirá publicando Canción de hielo y fuego. Una pena que nunca borrará la alegría de haber compartido mil encuentros, charlas, dibujos y regalos con vosotros. Un abrazo enorme y mi eterno agradecimiento. #GraciasGigamesh #GraciasLectores pic.twitter.com/8gxdI399SA
— Enrique Corominas (@Corominas) November 6, 2020
"More news that’s sooo 2020! @EGigamesh will not continue publishing A Song of Ice and Fire. But that can never erase the joy of having shared a thousand meetings, talks, drawings and gifts with you. A huge hug and my eternal gratitude."
Gigamesh still has the Spanish publishing rights to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and The World of Ice and Fire. As for who will publish The Winds of Winter in Spain now, it’ll probably be Penguin Random House; they published Fire & Blood in the region after Gigamesh couldn’t pay that fee.
If you’re interested, you can still get copies of the earlier A Song of Ice and Fire books published by Gigamesh at their bookstore in Barcelona.
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