Books Meet New Media Part One

With the arrival of the Internet and the Kindle, and other mobile readers, many feared for the fate of the novel. What would happen to good ol' fashioned paper books once the Internet became the primary way for people to read? Happily, books did not disappear--better yet, they started to incorporate the Internet in their writing style, as in the Young Adult series, Internet Girls, (ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r). Nowadays, we see this move a step further as books begin not only to include references to the modern era, but begin to incorporate multimedia and transmedia aspects into their story telling world. Some do this more so than others, and for that reason we will explore three different ways books have evolved into a form of multimedia storytelling.

A Song of Ice and Fire and "Game of Thrones"

We'll start off with George R.R. Martin's incredibly popular, A Song of Ice and Fire series. Within the novel themselves, they don't delve much into multimedia and transmedia, beyond companion novels, maps, role playing table top games, and other fairly traditional expansion souvenirs. Where the series gets interesting is in the television series based on it, "Game of Thrones" (not to say that the show is better than the books, which would be ludicrous.) In order to advertise both the books and the show, HBO has developed many multimedia methods to increase awareness and interest in the series, from both newbies and fans alike. 

For instance, there is a Facebook game application that lets you explore the narrative of "A Song of Ice and Fire" as your own character, deciding which house and characters to serve (I can attest, it's super fun, although when I played it had a few problems, but those have since been now fixed). Released on Youtube and the BluRays, are the histories of Westeros and Essos, animated events and tales narrated by characters from the show, to expand upon what the show could not include from the novel. Just today, HBO and several hip hop and rap artists released a rap album all based on the events from seasons 1 to 3, all for free on Soundcloud here. It's very, very good (I'm listening to it right now and my favorite song so far is definitely "Mother of Dragons," but I'm definitely biased...), and captures both the dramatic world George R.R. Martin has set up, and the modern sex appeal that the HBO show has tried to add. 

If one were to trust the rumors, the simultaneous existence of the television show and the unfinished novel series help to advertise one another, in an interesting marketing twist on transmedia. Supposedly, after this upcoming season (which for those who have read the books know will be the most exciting one yet), George R.R. Martin will pull a Beyoncé and release the highly anticipated sixth book of the series, The Winds of Winter. 

Riding the wave of the excitement generated by season four of "Game of Thrones", sales for The Winds of Winter will be explosive. A similar move was done for the previous novel of the series, A Dance with Dragons and the first season of the show. Fans of both worry about "Game of Thrones" surpassing the novels in content, as George R.R. Martin is a notoriously slow writer and the show is moving through the existing novels fast. Thus this would be an intelligent move by both Martin and HBO, to prevent the television show from eclipsing the novels. Not to mention, it will generate a multimedia profit gain for all parties involved.

Also, Winds of Winter should definitely come out this summer. Just sayin'.


But that's only one way to look at the intersection of books and new media. A very financially successful way, but there are other, more artistically driven ways, that are just as important and fascinating to look at.

We'll be looking at House of Leaves and Cathy's Book next time, and how within the very pages of the novel, both of these books play with multimedia aspects, and force readers to engage with the very act of physically participating in the story.

Until then, thank you for reading! :)