Game of Thrones books. Image: Radu Bercan/Shutterstock
Much loved author of the Game of Thrones series, George RR Martin, has agreed a deal with Apple to bring interactive versions of the books to its iBooks store for their 20th anniversary.
Having inspired the hit TV show of the same name, the Game of Thrones book series will now be brought into the digital age with a “world of additional content”.
According to The Guardian, the usually publicity-shy Martin has spoken of the deal signed with Apple and the book’s publisher, HarperCollins, as being part of “a new period in the history of publishing”.
With the release of A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition on iBooks as of yesterday (28 September), readers of the digital book will get access to interactive maps of Westeros and annotated family trees of all the major factions in the series.
“Anything that confuses you, anything you want to know more about, it’s right there at your fingertips,” Martin said. “It’s an amazing next step in the world of books.”
Release timeline confirmed
But perhaps the biggest draw for die-hard fans of the series is the inclusion of an excerpt written by Martin from the next book in the series, The Winds of Winter.
Previously published on Martin’s own website temporarily, the new interactive book series will now be the only way to read it.
With the first book now released, an interactive book of the sequel, A Clash of Kings, will be released on 27 October.
The third book in the series will be the last to be published in 2016, with a release date of 15 December, just in time for Christmas.
The fourth and fifth books in the series will then be released in February and March of 2017, respectively.
With Martin keeping schtum on the release date of The Winds of Winter, we can expect it to be some time before the release of an interactive version of the sixth novel.
Game of Thrones books. Image: Radu Bercan/Shutterstock
