Can’t get enough of Game of Thrones the television show? Bantam has announced the release of the Game of Thrones Coloring Book, slated for this fall.
The book will contain 45 original black-and-white illustrations. Each drawing will be based on characters, scenes, and locations from the popular “Song of Ice and Fire” series by fantasy author George R.R. Martin, on which the HBO show is based.
John Howe, best-known for his drawings of Middle Earth and his involvement in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, will be among the “world renowned fantasy illustrators,” as per an e-mail from publisher to TIME Magazine, to contribute to the book.
Ned Stark Game of Thrones color book image.
Photo: HelloKids.com.
Presumably, the drawings will tone down some of the source material’s most violent scenes (see Game of Thrones Art is Gory But Beautiful and Artist Perfectly Captures the Spirit of Game of Thrones’s Shocking Purple Wedding), in which such terrible fates as being raped, beheaded, murdered on the toilet, or burned at the stake befall beloved characters. Nevertheless, with dragons, giants, and frozen zombie kings in play, illustrators will still have their pick of dramatic imagery.
This isn’t the first coloring book to be based on the popular book and television series. Team Art has one with 14 illustrations, while Amazon sells an activity book “(for adults)” from Thomas Carter that lets you “connect the dots to give Jamie Lannister his severed hand back” and “lead Tyrion through a maze to get to a brothel.” There’s even a e-coloring book available on GameofThronesColoringBook.com.
The newly-announced book is, however, the only one to have Martin’s official stamp of approval.
An illustration from Johanna Basford’s Enchanted Forest.
Photo: Johanna Basford.
Coloring books for adults are allegedly all the rage right now, with Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford leading the pack with her bestsellers Secret Garden (2013) and Enchanted Forest, released in February (although rumors of Satanic coloring books in Florida proved unfounded—see Florida Isn’t Passing Out Satanic Coloring Books—Yet). With “Game of Thrones” gearing up for its fifth season finale next week, this seems like the perfect confluence of trends.