Game Of Thrones 20th Anniversary Edition Detailed

George R.R. Martin is celebrating the 20th anniversary of A Game of Thrones, the first novel of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, by detailing a new illustrated, 20th-anniversary edition of the novel, to be published by Bantam Spectra in October.

"First published on August 1st, 1996, A Game of Thrones marks its twentieth anniversary today. In celebration of the fantasy masterpiece that started a cultural phenomenon, we're excited to announce the publication of a special illustrated edition," Bantam Spectra says, via GRRM's "Not A Blog."

The new edition will feature a forward John Hodgman, 73 black-and-white illustrations, and eight full-color pieces. Some of the artwork will be from licensed material, such as the A Song of Ice and Fire roleplaying game, card game, and board game, but 48 of the illustrations are brand new works never before released.

"With gorgeous full-page illustrations to open every chapter, the mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure of this magnificent saga come to life as never before," reads the official announcement. Artists featured include John Picacio, Paul Youll, Gary Gianni, Didier Graffet, Victor Moreno, Michael Komarck, Arantza Sestayo, Magali Villeneuve, Ted Nasmith, Levi Pinfold, Marc Simonetti,

Martin took the opportunity to reminisce about how long he's been working on A Song of Ice and Fire and how far he's come since it all began.

It has been a helluva twenty years, twenty years that have transformed my life and career, twenty years during which the novel has never been out of print…

And no, before someone asks, I had no idea when this all started where it would lead... or how long the road would be. That picture of me up above was taken in 1995 in Scotland, after I'd signed the contracts for the first three books but before I'd delivered any of them. Back then, I'd thought the whole story could be told in three books, and that it would take me three years to write them, a year per book. That picture was taken just a few weeks after I blew my first (bot not my last, oh no) deadline on the series. Ah, how innocent I was... little did that guy in the picture imagine that he would be spending most of the next two decades in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros with Tyrion, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, Jon Snow, Bran, and all the rest.

But here I am, twenty years later... still working on book six... ((and no, sorry, I have no announcement to make on that front)).

You can see two samples of the artwork including in the A Game of Thrones: The Illustrated Edition in the gallery below. The book goes on sale Oct. 18, 2016.