George R.R. Martin Announces Fire and Blood Release Date

But it’s not the one we’re waiting for

Fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series will be pleased to learn that this year they’ll have an excuse to return to the lands of Westeros. No, it’s not the long awaited Winds of Winter, but is instead a book that chronicles the long and bloody reign of the Targaryen kings and queens that ruled Westeros thanks to the might of their dragons.

Announced on Martin’s official blog, Fire and Blood is set to be released later this year on November 20 and will release simultaneously in both the US and the UK. Translated editions will take a little longer to release but will follow shortly after. Despite being the first of two books, the tome’s manuscript comes in at just shy of 1000 pages (989 to be exact) and will begin with the reign of Aegon I up to the regency of Aegon III.

The volume is written from the perspective of a Maester hoping to provide an insightful read into the history of the Targaryen dynasty. The book will also feature illustrations throughout from artist Doug Wheatley. This book has long been discussed by Martin, and he often referred to it as his GRRMarillion, his own version of Tolkien’s Silmarillion which tells of the history of Middle-Earth. The Targaryen rulers are a hugely important part of Westeros’ history and now we’ll get to explore their reigns in detail.

Some of the material has been explored in the likes of A Song of Ice and Fire, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The World of Ice and Fire, Rogues, and Dangerous Women, but most of it is new material and this is the first comprehensive guide to be published. Martin was eager to stress that Fire and Blood is NOT a novel, but rather a in-universe history book which studies the Targaryens, though Martin did add that there’s still enough battles, bloodshed, betrayals, love, lust, horror, religious wars, politics, incest, and historical revisionism to fill 20 novels.

Fire and Blood is available to pre-order now from all major book stores, both physical and digital.