House of the Dragon may have redeemed Westeros after the epic fail of the final Game of Thrones season, but the fandom is still perspiring over the absolute lack of news and updates regarding George R.R. Martin’s sixth A Song of Ice and Fire novel, which has been in the wings for more than a decade. Now, an official Westerosi illustrator has released a cover art for The Winds of Winter, and the fandom has understandably run amok with speculation.
In other news, the collective high fantasy community on social media has partaken in another survey to determine the top 100 fantasy books of all time. The list goes on beyond that and measures some 300 works from different authors across the years, and you’ll no doubt find many familiar, not to mention popular, names in the first 50 spots.
Lastly, we take a look at Viserys I Targaryen and his contentious reign from the Fire & Blood novel and try to rank the most emotional Attack on Titan episodes now that MAPPA has made it clear that they’re going to make us wait another few months for the story’s final chapter. Check out all of these down below.
The Winds of Winter cover art leaks online, but is it the legitimate design and does it mean the book is close to publication?
The Winds of Winter was supposed to come out ahead of Game of Thrones season 7, and while we already knew Martin would never be able to finish his book series before the HBO adaptation, fans still had hope to see the sixth book in 2016. Now, another six years have passed and the novelist has yet to give us any hints at the publication date.
Recently, an artist on social media posted a cover art for The Winds of Winter that, for all intents and purposes, looks legitimate. What’s more, the person in question is an official Song of Ice and Fire illustrator, having previously worked on The Rise of the Dragon. George R.R. Martin is opting to maintain radio silence at the moment, while the artist has neither confirmed nor denied that this is the official and final cover. As you can imagine, though the fandom had to take a moment there, lest they give themselves a heart attack out of sheer excitement.
A fantasy blockbuster from the Far East finds success on streaming five years after its release
The tale of the legendary Monkey King has been adapted for live-action so many times that it’s getting increasingly difficult to tell them apart from one another. Still, the 2017 flick by director Derek Kwok remains an applaudable effort all things considered. The movie might not revolutionize the tale in any way, but folks on streaming are still finding it a pleasant movie-watching experience. According to FlixPatrol, Wu Kong, or Immortal Demon Slayer: The Legend of Wu Kong, is in the top 10 watched movies in half a dozen countries. So, if you’re craving a mindless fantasy action romp, get a popcorn bucket and fire up Netflix.
Here are the top 100 fantasy book series of all time according to folk on social media
Genre filmmaking has turned fantasy into a prominent storytelling form these days, but its most diehard fans would still swear by the literary medium that has spawned most of these adaptations. In a recent survey on the official fantasy subreddit, folks chose their top fantasy book series of all time for 2023, and you can check them out here.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of popular worlds are in the top 10, including George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. What might come off as something of a shock, however, is the fact that neither has managed to seize the first spot. That honor now belongs to Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive, which is a 10-novel book series in his bigger Cosmere universe. The author kicked up quite a commotion last year by launching the most successful Kickstarter of all time and promoting five novels that he’d been writing in secret, and another series of his, Mistborn, has also seized the fifth spot on this list.
Other heavy contenders include First Law, The Wheel of Time, Realm of the Elderlings, Discworld, and Malazan, which should come off as no surprise to the initiated. Don’t worry, though, as by taking a look further down the list, you’ll find many of your favorite stories — like Dune, Red Rising, The Kingkiller Chronicle, The Witcher, and even Harry Potter — have made it, even if they aren’t necessarily the talk of the town anymore.
The 10 times Attack on Titan made us bawl our eyes out just because it could
Attack on Titan does two things extremely well. One is leaving its fandom absolutely flabbergasted after a twist reveal. The other, and perhaps the more damaging of the two from a mental health perspective, is traumatizing them through the character they love. Now, all of Shingeki no Kyojin‘s elaborate storytelling elements are coming together in one final battle, but before we get to it in a few months, we’re taking a look at some of the story’s most emotional moments. You know most of these moments already, but if you still want to shinzou sasageyo anyway, head to this link and relive them for yourself.
A House of the Dragon question explained: Was Viserys a good king in the annals of Westeros?
Some called him the Young King. Some tried to manipulate him and lived to think better of it. Some even deemed him a worthy successor to Jaehaerys I the Wise — essentially the greatest king in the history of Westeros — when he was ruling. But whatever you may think of his presence in House of the Dragon, it seems that history, in general, doesn’t look too kindly on Viserys and his absolute bungling of the political situation, which led to the Dance of Dragons, the most destructive civil war in the annals of the Seven Kingdoms. We’ve gone through the Young King’s reign and tried to determine his virtues as well as his sins, so make sure to check it out when you get a minute.