Beyond the Wall ~ Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons

Beyond the Wall - Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons
edited by James Lowder


With all the talks of next seasons Game of Thrones on HBO and Comic Con still fresh on everyones mind I thought it was the prefect time to mention this book. Beyond the Wall is a collection of essays written by bestselling authors.


From the Publisher:

As season two of HBO’s hit Game of Thrones series, an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, draws to a close in June, Smart Pop is releasing Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons.

            With a foreword by New York Times–bestselling author R.A. Salvatore and contributions from top fantasy authors and science fiction experts, Beyond the Wall gives fans their fix of direwolves, Starks, and Lannisters while they wait for the sixth book in the series, The Winds of Winter, and the third season of Game of Thrones.

Its contents cover everything from the series’ sexual violence, which has been the cause of so much media controversy, to what it will take to win Westeros’ Game of Thrones, to how the religions in A Song of Ice and Fire reflect those of our world. Contributors include:

• Linda Antonsson and Elio M. Garcia, Jr., the founders of the Martin-endorsed A Song of Ice and Fire fansite, Westeros.org, and co-authors with Martin of the forthcoming guidebook, The World of Ice and Fire
• Daniel Abraham, who is adapting A Song of Ice and Fire into graphic novel form
• Caroline Spector, who has worked with Martin on the Wild Cards series
• Jesse Scoble, creative director on the RPG A Game of Thrones d20 and contributor to the more recent A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying

The full list of contributors:

Daniel Abraham

Linda Antonsson

Elio M. Garcia, Jr.

Myke Cole

John Jos. Miller

Alyssa Rosenberg

Jesse Scoble

Caroline Spector

Matt Staggs

Ned Vizzini

Gary Westfahl

Adam Whitehead

Susan Vaught

Andrew Zimmerman Jones

Brent Hartinger

Beyond the Wall surprises, entertains, and provokes further thought as it explores the book series’ influences, its place in the fantasy pantheon, its challenging narrative choices, and the pull of its stunningly epic scope.

My Take:


If your anything like me and obsessed with Westeros this is a nice way to explore the world we have all become so familiar with. It is always nice to get someone else's opinion and here we have a whole book full of them. Plus with such an epic story we can all miss tiny details and in these essays you may have more to learn than you would have thought.


Lets face it, it could be years before George R R Martins gets us the next installment. Here is a way to keep yourself going in the interim!


Looking for Beyond the wall? Check out the Smartpopbooks website. They even have some teaser chapters that you can check out. (My favorite of Of Direwolves and Gods)