The Fireside

Looks like on Oct. 27, 2015 , there will be a new edition of A Song of Ice and Fire coming out from Random House / Bantam. As you can see above, you get:   - A Game of Thrones - A Clash of Kings -A Storm of Swords - A Feast For Crows - A Dance With Dragons At this point, I do not know what the content of the books will be like, the text aside. It appears that the books are only (at this time) being offered in a box set only. The total page count is listed at 5280 pages. It is unclear if this will be 'limited edition', or even if the rest of the books that aren't published / written yet, will be released in this format. You can pre-order the (incomplete) set through various book sellers using this ISBN: 9781101965481

I haven't been talking much about hockey lately, or the Stanley Cup Playoffs. My Ottawa Senators have been eliminated after one hell of a comeback, much to the delight of the Habs fans. That being said, let's have a look at the current playoff bracket..... In the West: Anaheim vs Calgary. I say: go Calgary! The one good Canadian team left in the playoffs that has the colors of red and white, and with a 'C' for a logo. Minnesota vs Chicago. I say: go Chicago! Montreal vs Tampa Bay or Detroit (I'm hoping it's Detroit) : I say: go Detroit! Though I will cheer Tampa Bay should they advance instead. New York (Rangers) vs Washington or New York (Islanders) (I'm hoping it's Washington) : I say: Go Washington! That was a match-by-match breakdown of the current playoff bracket. As you might have guessed by the picture up top; my team will now be the Calgary Flames, since that my usual go-to team, the St. Louis Blues, are now out. #FlameOn !!!

On Sept. 1, The Mortal Instruments and its The Infernal Devices serieseses will be getting re-issued and and new covers in paperback. Regretably, the first film was a fail, but the books have done quite well. The saying 'don't judge a book by its movie' applies here. Heck, even I'm looking forward to reading them. Yes, I dabble my toes in YA from time to time. They will feature new covers (I am unsure if they are done by the same artist who did the original covers for all the books in the series, as the art style appears very similar, and equally good) as well as additional content. At this time, only the product info for City of Bones, the first book of The Mortal Instruments, has been revealed: - a gorgeous new cover -  a map  - a new foreword  - and exclusive bonus content! There are lots of lots of books to mention, so I will name the series, and the books in it, as well as say that they are ALL coming out on Sept. 1 THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS [main seri...

There's lots coming on the horizon for Mario Kart 8, and Smash Bros U , both on the wii u. First up, is Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8, the second LDC pack for Mario Kart 8 [I highly suggest getting both packs to get the bonus Shy Guy & Yoshi color swaps). The pack will be released on April 23 , and will feature Villager (male and female), Isabelle and Dry Bowser. There will be more karts 'n' parts, two cups (Crossing and Bell), each having 4 courses each. And, on the same day there's an update for the game which will feature a 200cc mode which will be crazy fast (and allowing for more shortcuts...) and other goodies. For Smash Bros , if you already have both the 3Ds and wii u versions, you most likely have Mewtwo by now. If not, he will coming April 28 , and Lucas will be coming in June sometime. Currently, there's an update for Smash which includes more mii outfits. Some you can also purchase for the 3DS version, as well. I gotta say, my mii fighter in vamp...

 At long last, we are here - Game of Thrones: Season 5 . The 5th season (which looks to be the end of the currently published material brought to the screen, as of now) begins tonight with the episode titled "The Wars to Come". I will still follow the series, regardless of which books are or aren't out. "The text is the text, the show is the show" as George R.R. Martin had said on many occasions. Two separate continuities. If for whatever reason The Winds of Winter (Book Six) is not out next year, fear not. The show will spoil nothing. Did Dexter spoil the books because it was different? How about True Blood? Vampire Diaries? There are many books that got adapted as a TV series that have been different from the source material. Game of Thrones began as a near-flawless ,almost word-for-word adaption of the book way back when it first began. Now, it is quite a bit different than the books. George (the author and one of the producers) as well as the peopl...

Those familiar with the fan community Operation Moonfall know that their goal worked – they wanted a remake / remastering of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and in Feb, they got their wish. I’m currently playing it, actually. Not at this moment, but that’s my game I’ve got on the go. So this campaign got me thinking. Why don’t I start up a new one? That is of course, unless this happened already. I bring you: Operation Nightfall. What I would like to achieve with this campaign, is get Nintendo to remake The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Now, of course – this would be the next time they do remake or re-master of an existing Zelda game. The reason why I propose Operation Nightfall (the name is an homage to the original Moonfall campaign, as well as another name for twilight) is because I believe that it is in need of a remake. In fact, I believe that it is one of the few, if not only Zelda title that needs to be fixed up. Skyward Sword is great, and I would not ...

While I don't watch it (yet...I may wait until Season 1 is complete, or, due to my other shows, when the entire show is finished), some of my friends and readers may, so: Outlander is now back with the 2015 episodes! This year's episodes will end on May 16.

Join LANCR and ABO-Franco for a discussion surrounding the theme of comic books, graphic novels, and libraries. If you ever wanted to learn more about comic books and graphic novels, this event is the perfect opportunity to do so. The panelists are: Rob Spittall Catherine Malboeuf Genevieve Leblanc Allison Hall-Murphy   Where: Hintonburg Community Center, 1064 Wellington St When: Sunday, April 26th, 2015 from 2:00pm to 3:30 pm Price: $7 for members and $10 for non-members Please RSVP at lancrinfo@gmail.com

George R.R. Martin himself has uploaded another sample chapter The Winds of Winter, Book Six of A Song of Ice and Fire , the book series that HBO's Game of Thrones is based off of. You can grab it here: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/excerpt-from-the-winds-of-winter/

Right now, you can submit which fighter you would like to see appear in Smash Bros for 3Ds or wii u as a playable!! you can submit your characters here: https://cp.nintendo.co.jp/us/ Here is my list: - Bomberman - Banjo & Kazooie - Shovel Knight - Tails - Knuckles - Wonder Boy - Vector Man - Earthwork Jim - Rayman - Battletoads I'm sure there's others I can't think of at the moment. Also, there will be some DLC coming soon - new mii fighter costumes, Mewtwo, Lucas...lots is coming!

I’ve reached a decision. As many of you may know, I am writing a multi-volume book series. It is my intent to have them published as close together as possible so that people will not lose interest, and to reduce anxiety on all fronts for upcoming installments. Which is why I’m going to wait until I’ve delivered the finale before I attempt to get any of them get published. This will also hopefully fuel the fire of the drive and motivation to write more. There is no time limit, I know; but the sooner that last volume is completed, the sooner they can all be in my readers hands. It will ultimately be up to the publisher when to release them. I will submit the manuscript for Volume I, and announce that the rest of the manuscripts are also completed, and that the series is completed. This will allow maximum consistency and cohesiveness for the series as a whole. And besides, I’ll be able to fine tune any other the manuscripts if need be before I complete the final one, an...