Fantasy novelist George R.R. Martin threatened to decapitate an unknown Amazon employee after 180 copies of A Dance with Dragons leaked ahead of the highly anticipated novel’s July 12 release date. Martin blamed Amazon Germany for the mistake.
Here’s an excerpt from his post: “If we find out who is responsible, we will mount his head on a spike. Some other retailers are making noises about releasing their own stocks early, using the Amazon error as a justification. They are not supposed to do this. If you hear of anyone actually selling or shipping copies in advance of the publication date, please inform me ASAP. I know that the 180 readers who got advance copies are happy about this, but I assure you, my publishers are not. And thousands of other readers are now getting spoiled, most quite inadvertently and unwillingly, as they stumble over the spoilers cropping up everywhere on the internet. (Some of the spoilers being posted are false, by the way). Most of those ‘lucky’ 180 are keeping mum, to be sure, but there are always a few jerkwads in any group, and those are the ones who cannot keep their mouths shut.”
The book is the fifth installment in Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. HBO recently adapted the first novel as a new series, Game of Thrones–ordering a second season after a single successful episode. (Via Shelf Awareness)
