George R.R. Martin releases ‘Game of Thrones’ companion book

Winter is coming, but not fast enough for fans of George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. While the next novel looks to be a long way off, devotees of “Game of Thrones” can console themselves with a new companion volume Martin has released, providing the back story of his famous fictional kingdom Westeros.

The book, “The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones,” published by Bantam, features text by Martin and illustrations by several fantasy artists. In an interview with the Associated Press, Martin said the companion volume took on a life of its own: “It was bigger than I anticipated ... I start these things that I think won’t take much time and they grow and grow.”

The blog io9 features some illustrations from the book, including a rendering of the iconic Iron Throne by artist Marc Simonetti. (Martin recently said Simonetti’s version is the best one yet.)

Vulture is running an exclusive excerpt from the book, and also features video of Martin’s recent interview at 92Y in New York.

There’s no word yet on a release date for the next novel in the “Ice and Fire” series, “The Winds of Winter,” though it looks doubtful that it will be completed in time for publication in 2015. And fans of the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” based on Martin’s novels, will have to wait until next year for more episodes -- the network hasn’t announced a premiere date for the show’s fifth season, but (caution: the next link contains spoilers) many are guessing it will be in April.