Press Release from the Editor:

Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows was a big deal for us.  Never before in the Song of Ice and Fire community – or, just perhaps, in any fan community of any media property – had the leading voices from several different publications banded together to create an in-depth, thought-provoking, but nonetheless fun product, independent of any major publisher.

This last point is very important.  The publisher of the ebook, Blue Buddha Press, is essentially run out of editor Marc N. Kleinhenz’s basement.  No media consultants were consulted.  No marketing blitzes were orchestrated.  Hell, not even a dime was spent on advertising – not a single dime.  In a time when the independents aren’t independent anymore, we’re ultra-indie.

To celebrate thisunquestionable success over these past six months and to also satiate the near-constant demand from readers, we’re very happy to announce a special, print edition of the book.  Call it A Flight of Sorrows: Collector’s Edition.

What makes it so special?  Well, beyond being able to finally hold a physical copy in your sweaty little hands, we’re packing it full of additional content that, we feel, makes the second read-through worthwhile.  Even better, all this extra stuff will be exclusive to the Collector’s Edition – you’ll never see it published anywhere else, on the net or on your Kindle, for the rest of eternity.  Knight’s honor.

These extra treats include:

• Brand-new, full-length essays that delve even further into the nitty-gritty details of George R.R. Martin’s spectacular world, written by several of the original authors
• A behind-the-scenes walkthrough of A Flight of Sorrows’s genesis, production, and release, narrated by editor Marc N. Kleinhenz
• New special guest appearances by other big names from Ice and Fire fandom, which just may include a surprise or two

What truly makes this a collector’s edition, however, is the simple fact that it’s going to have a limited run – a very, very limited run.  Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows – Collector’s Edition will be made available on October 1^st, 2013, and it will be discontinued on November 1^st, 2013 for the rest of time.  No go-backs or redos, no second printings or double-dippings (or would that be triple-dippings?)… although we may have a contest here and there to extend the window of availability by a day or two.

Of course, a birthday celebration – even a half-year one – is all the more fun when more people cram their way in, so we at the Tower are even happier to make one final announcement:  also due to an oft-repeated request, we’ll be coming back for a second outing at this whole ebook thing.  In order to live up to the pretty high bar we’ve already set for ourselves, we’ll be changing up our lineup of authors, cramming even more content between the digital covers, and elsewise be having the biggest nerdfest you can possibly imagine this side of Oldtown (we are particularly excited to be delving into and dissecting George’s upcoming novella, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here).

Called Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring, it’ll be released on June 19^th, 2014.  Who will be in it?  Well, we don’t want to put all of our cards on the table just yet, but we can tell you that Marc N. Kleinhenz will be returning as editor, Amin Javadi of A Podcast of Ice and Fire infamy will be returning as an author, and Steven Attewell from Race for the Iron Throne will be joining us as the first of our brand-new contributors.

We’re already immensely proud of the material that is starting to shape up, and we can’t wait to share more of it with you all as the months slowly tick by…

Ashley and Kyle have answered your questions for Youtube from the forum thread here.

Kyle has been making some more content for our youtube page – check out News From Westeros, the first three episodes are out now.

Notes: In other news, the editor of the A Flight of Sorrows (the ebook Mimi and Amin contributed to) has recently released his own ebook: It is Known: An Analysis of Thrones, Vol II.

Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows has just been released today! Mimi and Amin are contributing authors to this work. For the full list of authors, check out our previous post below. For those interested, you can purchase it from Amazon here.

Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows is coming out a month from today, and to celebrate, we’re letting you all in on a little secret: the book’s complete lineup (which, we’re delighted to finally share, includes a few more friendly faces from the Ice and Fire community).

Here we go:

Foreword – Phil Bicking, editor-in-chief of WinterIsComing.net
And Now It Begins…

Introduction – Marc N. Kleinhenz, editor
All along the Watchtower

“Under the Bleeding Star” – Stefan Sasse, essayist at Tower of the Hand and co-host of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour
On the role of prophecy in songs of ice and fire

“Daggers in the Dark” – Miles Schneiderman, essayist at Tower of the Hand
The ultimate fates of protagonists, from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons

“The Prince That Illyrio Promised” – Alexander Smith, co-founder of Tower of the Hand
Exploring the identity of – and the aim of the conspiracy around – Aegon Targaryen

“A Game of Beds” – Amin Javadi, co-host of A Podcast of Ice and Fire
Marital infidelity, adultery, and fandom theories in A Song of Ice and Fire

“Every Case Is Different, Every Case Is Alike” – John Jasmin, co-founder of Tower of the Hand
Investigating murder investigations in Westeros

“You Win or You Sit the Bench” – Douglas Cohen, author and former editor of Realms of Fantasy magazine
Power ranking – NFL style – the top contenders in the game of thrones

“The Narratives of Winter” – Marc N. Kleinhenz, editor
Discerning the structure of Martin’s saga and teasing out its final act

“The Telltale Knight” – Mimi Hoshut, co-host of A Podcast of Ice and Fire
The narrative parallels and foreshadowing of the Tales of Dunk and Egg

Afterword – Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, co-author of InnattheCrossroads.com and A Feast of Ice and Fire
Just Desserts

Appendix I: What’s a Game of Thrones without the Tower of the Hand?
Appendix II: The Creaking Door of House Manwoody

As you can see, it’s a packed house, and we’re excited to squeeze you into the nerdfest, as well.

(Note: the two appendices are previously published material – one at Corona’s Coming Attractions, the other at Tower of the Hand itself – that interviews the respective braintrusts behind TOTH and A Podcast of Ice and Fire. It’s collected here to heighten the reader’s enjoyment of these two wacky-but-popular ASOIAF staples.)

A Flight of Sorrows goes on sale on October 13th, exclusively at Amazon, for $5.99.

For the past seven years, ToweroftheHand.com has prided itself on being a premiere source of A Song of Ice and Fire analysis, information, and speculation. There has been nearly a metric ton of essays, forum posts, and encyclopedia entries logged at the site to date, all designed to give the hardest of the core fan the most rewarding experience possible while reading George R.R. Martin’s seminal novels. Consistently referred to in our podcast as our unofficial sponsor, TOTH has been an invaluable resource behind every episode we publish.

And now the editors are taking all those years of mastery and applying them to an ebook.

Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows takes five of the site’s most prolific authors – including its two founders – and draws out their best, most in-depth work yet. Unlike other Ice and Fire compendiums, the focus of these essays is on the narrative, character, and thematic elements of the story itself, as opposed to the literary aspects surrounding the books.

What role has prophecy played in the narrative thus far, and what might they really tell us about the future? Did Martin truly kill off one of his most beloved protagonists, and, if not, how can we tell for sure? Who exactly is the Young Griffin, and what is the aim of the conspiracy surrounding him? And just what is the overall structure of this epic, convoluted story, anyway, and what might it tell us of the upcoming final stretch?

Even better, the TOTH editors are joined by some of their good friends, who just so happen to be leading voices in the Game of Thrones community. Amin Javadi and Mimi Hoshut, co-hosts of the Podcast of Ice and Fire, tackle the role of infidelity in Westerosi society and the narrative clues and parallels of the Dunk and Egg novellas, while noted fantasy editor and author Douglas Cohen power ranks, NFL style, the top contenders in the game of thrones.

A Flight of Sorrows releases on Saturday, October 13th, 2012 at the price of $5.99. It will be available exclusively at Amazon.com and is edited by Marc N. Kleinhenz, a freelance journalist who has written for 19 sites, including IGN, Comic Related, and Westeros.org. Other books he has written or edited include It Is Known: An Analysis of Thrones, Vol. I, another travelogue to Martin’s novels and television series, and the upcoming Green Switch Palace: A Year in the Life of Nintendo Fandom.

Ashley of A Podcast of Ice and Fire attempts to cook Cheese and Onion Pie from A Feast of Ice and Fire, a cook book written by the authors of The Inn at the Crossroads.

http://www.amazon.com/Feast-Ice-Fire-Official-Companion/dp/0345534492

The Bastards of Kingsgrave (BOK) is a bastard podcast, an offshoot of A Podcast of Ice and Fire. BOK was founded in May 2012, to allow the 4 podcast hosts as well as their listeners and forum members to occasionally podcast about a variety of other topics, including TV shows, movies, novels, comics, games, etc.

One feature of BOK is that the hosts and the majority of our guests are fans of ASOIAF, active on our forums, and are aware of the terminology and jokes developed during the four year run (so far) of our ASOIAF podcast. BOK is also even more informal than APOIAF, with minimal episode editing, PG25 status, and an even greater shocking lack of knowledge.

To discuss BOK episodes in detail, to suggest future episodes topics, or to guest host with us, check out the BOK subforum, one of the forums at the main APOIAF website.

To subscribe to us, use the RSS feed on the BOK website, which will work in iTunes or any other RSS reader. If we get on the iTunes store we will let you know, but for the moment it is not a priority.

What are you doing on Sunday nights, after watching Game of Thrones?  If your answer involves sitting in front of your computer, you might want to consider joining APOIAF in our epic House Manwoody Pictionary Nights, via iSketch. Check the forums for more information. And if you need convincing, look at this beautiful moment in time.

HIATUS, Y’ALL.

Also, why you should read the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Like us? Press this here button and declare your Manwoody worship for all your Facebook friends and family to behold. Our podcast is now moving away from our old Facebook group, and transitioning to a page that gives us an idea of how many fans we have (read: none). Join up and let your Blackwoody sigil fly!

Check out these handsome gentlemen chilling with George R.R. Martin at today’s book signing in Pasadena, CA.  The top photo belongs to Kyle (who you might remember from the previous episode), and the second photo is Sebastian (our new guest host for the just-recorded episode 34).  You’ll get to hear both of them discuss their experience on this next episode.  Excitement!

Thanks to your feedback and requests, the Podcast of Ice and Fire now has its own message board!  Check the forums link at the top of the site, or else click here to begin your magical adventure.  We know that Westeros is the go-to community for ASOIAF discussion, but if you ever need a place to let loose and debate midget sex, we are here for you.  Forever and always.

Believe it or not, we are planning to break our hiatus, and record an episode in mid December. We need your ideas for discussion topics, as well as comments and questions that we will respond to during the episode. Email them in to us: audio comments are best and will be played during the show, but we’ll take the usual text comments as well. Let us know how we’ve touched your lives and/or offended your ears.

We will be back to our regular podcasting schedule with a vengeance once the HBO series comes out in spring, but if you want us to start podcasting regularly before then we need your feedback.

You knew it was coming.

Official hiatus.

See you in the fall, revamped for the better.