Sharp-eyed Ice & Fire fans at last week's mammoth San Diego Comicon may have spied a trio of familiar faces among the thousands of items on display. The good folks behind Haute Products, Jed Haigh and Justice Joseph, were there in San Diego, and they brought with them painted prototypes of the first three figures in their "Valyrian Resin" range of Ice & Fire minibusts. I'm told the figures were a huge hit with those who saw 'em.

If you weren't in San Diego -- and I couldn't make it myself this year -- don't fret, you're not forgotten. Here's your own look.

The first three releases will be:

--- Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell,
--- Daenerys Targaryen, the Stormborn, Mother of Dragons,
--- Sandor Clegane, the Hound.

More photos are available on Valyrian Resin's own website where you will also find information about scale, price, ordering, etc.

The figures are not yet in production, and these are only painted prototypes, so be aware that the final versions will differ from what you see here in various ways. The colors of Ned's arms will be corrected, Dany's crown will be of three different metals as described in the books, a dragon or two will be added, and various other adjustments will be made... but these should give you the flavor of the the boys from Valyria have in mind. Their website is up and running up now, so give them a visit and let them know what you think of these... and what figures you'd like them to do next.

Cool news for wargamers, miniatures collectors, figure painters, toy soldier guys, and Ice & Fire readers -- Dark Sword Miniatures has officially unveiled its plans for a brand new line of premium pewter miniatures based on the world of A Song of Ice & Fire.

I've been impressed with Dark Sword Miniatures since the first time I stumbled across their website, and saw the ranges based on the artwork of Larry Elmore and the late, great Keith Parkinson -- superb figures, beautifully sculpted, cast with care, and painstakingly faithful to the vision of those two outstanding fantasy artists. When I got in touch with Dark Sword's president and swapped some of my books for some of his miniatures, my first impression was confirmed -- this was the kind of quality I wanted for any figures based on my books. Dark Sword's commitment to customer service is also second to none, and that was very important to me after my last foray into this area, which left so many of my fans frustrated and disappointed.

The new range will be in the same scale as Dark Sword's other critically acclaimed lines and many other popular "28mm" miniature ranges on the market today. The legendary Tom Meier will be the primary sculptor.

The best part of my experience with Testor's and that short-lived range of miniatures was the chance it gave me to work with Tom Meier, and to see him bring a few (too few) of my characters to life in pewter. I was adamant in wanting Tom to continue to be a part of any new endeavor, and I'm thrilled to say that he will be. Tom has been one of Dark Sword's main men since the start. He's already been hard at work.

The first set of figures released from Dark Sword will include:
-- Jon Snow,
-- Lady Melisandre, the red priestess,
-- Sandor Clegane, the Hound,
-- an archer of the Night's Watch,
-- the Shadow Tower's raven keeper.

Here's a glimpse of Jon Snow and Melisandre. For more pictures of these and the other new miniatures, please visit Dark Sword's website. Those folks attending Gen Con Indy from August 16-19 should be sure to swing by the Dark Sword Miniatures Booth to say hi and check out the miniatures in person.

More figures will follow shortly. Dark Sword's president and I plan to keep Tom busy for years to come, sculpting all of your favorite characters from Westeros, along with "troop types" including wildlings, men of the Night's Watch, Wildlings, the Unsullied, and other background types to add flavor to the world and fill out the ranks of your miniature armies.

Dark Sword's president writes, "When George personally approached me as an admirer of the realistically proportioned and scaled Dark Sword ranges, I thought it was some sort of odd coincidence at first, but as it sunk in that this was indeed the creator of the Westeros world, it was flattering to say the least. I am a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire and thrilled to be working with George and Tom on this new line. We are all on the same page with what we want this range to look like and where we want this range to go over the

Circle September 3 on your calendars. That's when HarperCollins will be publishing the British hardcover edition of my latest novel. A three-way collaboration with my good friends Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham, HUNTER'S RUN tells the tale of Ramon Espejo, a prospector searching for a big strike on a distant world who finds rather more than he bargained for... and along the way must wrestle with what it means to be human.

If that sounds a bit familiar, it should. Yes, HUNTER'S RUN is a novel length expansion of "Shadow Twin," the novella that Gardner began in the 70s, I continued in the 80s, and Daniel completed in the 00s. For much of the past twenty years, I have been telling Gardner that it needed to be a novel. I said the same thing to Daniel when he came aboard. And what do you know? I was right all along...

(Well, I think so, anyway. Read the book, and you can judge for yourself).

An American hardback of HUNTER'S RUN is also in the works, with a stunning cover by Stephen Martiniere (Daniel Abraham has great cover karma). That edition will be released by HarperCollins US in January, 2008, but for those who can't wait, copies of the British first edition can be secured from Amazon UK and other online bookshops.

-- Czech editions of Fevre Dream , Songs of Stars and Shadows, and Songs the Dead Men Sing, from Triton.
-- a Polish edition of GRRM: A Rretrospective, from Zysk
-- a new French edition of Tuf Voyaging, from Mnemos
-- Catalan editions of A Song of Ice and Fire, from Devir Contenidos, S.L., of Barcelona.
-- Greek editions of A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords, from Compupress SA of Athens.
-- a Hebrew translation of Tuf Voyaging, from Opus.
-- a Russian edition of GRRM: A RRetrospective, from Eksmo.

Dark Sword Miniatures is known for their award winning miniature ranges based on the fantasy artwork of Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson (RIP), Clyde Caldwell and Jeff Easley.

Dark Sword was founded with the single purpose of creating extremely detailed fantasy miniatures for both miniature collectors and gamers alike. Their award winning pewter fantasy miniatures are in the newer 28mm to 30mm scale which has become the industry standard. I'm thrilled and excited to be in business with them.

Once upon a time, along about twenty years ago, the Wild Cards series grew out of a role-playing game... and now, many books and many stories later, we're thrilled and excited to announce that we're going home to that world once again. I have closed a deal with our good friends at Green Ronin Publishing to license the Wild Cards concepts, setting, and characters for a new line of RPGs.

Green Ronin will begin publishing the new Wild Cards titles next year as part of its popular and critically acclaimed Mutants & Masterminds RPG. The first of these books, the Wild Cards Campaign Setting, an overview of the universe and its history, will be written by John Jos. Miller and is scheduled to debut next August at Gen Con Indy 2008.

"The world of Wild Cards is a perfect match for our Mutants & Masterminds game," said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas. "With Inside Straight starting a new chapter in the Wild Cards saga, it seemed the perfect time to bring the property back to its roots in roleplaying games."

Green Ronin has already done successful RPG adaptations of literary properties like Thieves' World and the Black Company. Earlier this year they also announced plans to adapt A Song of Ice and Fire. They do beautiful books, extensively illustrated and often in full color, and their Mutants & Masterminds system should be a great fit for Wild Cards.

With John Jos. Miller -- creator of Carnifex, Yeoman, Wraith, Father Squid, Chrysalis, and many other popular WC characters -- writing the new campaign setting book, it's sure to be complete, accurate, and faithful to the mosaics, a must-have for every fan of the series, even those who do not game.

"I said then that 2008 would be a great year for fans of George R.R. Martin's work and I meant it," added Pramas.

The Wild Cards series made its debit in 1987, during thje heydey of the shared world anthology series. The original series featured characters and stories from Roger Zelazny, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Lewis Shiner, Howard Waldrop, John Jos. Miller, Chris Claremont, Stephen Leigh, Edward Bryant, Pat Cadigan, Victor Milan, William F. Wu, and a host of other terrific writers. Twelve volumes were published by Bantam from 1987 through 1993, and three by Baen Books from 1993 to 1995. After a seven-year hiatus, iBooks revived the series in 2002, reprinting six of the original Bantam titles and adding two new volumes before going into bankruptcy. But Wild Cards refuses to die, and come January, Tor Books will be releasing Inside Straight, the first volume in a new triad featuring the next generation of aces and jokers, and the eighteenth installment in the overall series. Wild Cards has outlasted all the other shared world anthologies of the 80s to become the longest-running such series in the history of SF and fantasy.

Video of GRRM's appearance in Second Life is now live on the Bantam Dell site.

Watch the video at:

     Random House
     YouTube