A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition was launched on Thursday and is available via iBooks as a celebration of the book’s 20th anniversary from its first publication. According to Martin, “We’re now entering a new period in the history of publishing. The digital book gives readers the ability to experience all this rich secondary material that had not been possible before.”
He adds, “These enhanced editions, available only on iBooks, include sigils and family trees and glossaries. Anything that confuses you, anything you want to know more about, it’s right there at your fingertips. It’s an amazing next step in the world of books.” The Enhanced Edition book will also include an extract from The Winds of Winter, Martin’s upcoming book in the series.
According to Martin’s publisher HarperCollins, the extract used to be available via his website but it will now be exclusive to the Enhanced Editions. The good news is that this interactive book endeavor will continue and the second book, A Clash of Kings, is expected to be launched come 27th of October. The third book will be released on 15th December, and the fourth and fifth books will be released in February and March 2017 respectively.
Unfortunately for those waiting for The Winds of Winter, there is still no release date yet. A HarperCollins spokesperson said, “As yet nothing has been finalised regarding the publication … but when the book is ready, it will be announced through George’s website.”