The wait is finally over! Nearly a year after the completion of the second series, HBO will be airing the third season premiere of Game of Thrones this Sunday night, March 31. Based on the wildly successful George R.R. Martin books, the television drama series tells the story of the Seven Kingdoms and the charismatic personalities who are fighting for power.

If you found yourself won over by the intrigues, the scandals and all-around great fantasy storytelling, you may enjoy a similar epic series in our list of read-a-likes. These titles are Book 1 in multi-part science fiction series, allowing you to delve deep into other worlds and lose yourself in the escape. Enjoy and remember, winter is coming!

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America just nominated their fellow writers in the following categories:

Novel
Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon
Tina Connolly's Ironskin
N.K. Jemisin's The Killing Moon
Caitlin R. Kiernan's The Drowning Girl
Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour in Glass
Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy
Kelly Barnhill's Iron Hearted Violet
Holly Black's Black Heart
Leah Bobet's Above
Libba Bray's The Diviners
Sarah Beth Durst's Vessel
Rachel Hartman's Seraphina
Alethea Kontis' Enchanted
David Levithan's Every Day
Guadalupe Garcia McCall's Summer of the Marioposas
China Mieville's Railsea
E.C. Myers' Fair Coin
Jenn Reese's Above World

See the complete list on SFWA.

Since 1975 the Science Fiction Writers of America recognizes outstanding authors with a lifetime achievement award called the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master. Here are just a few of the winners, including some from Minnesota!

Robert A. Heinlein (1975)
Clifford D. Simak (1977) - Minnesota
Andre Norton (1984)
Ray Brandbury (1989)
Damon Knight (1995)
Poul Anderson (1998) - Minnesota
Ursula K. Le Guin (2003)
Anne McCaffrey (2005)
Michael Moorcock (2008)
Connie Willis (2012)
Gene Wolfe (2013)

Do you know about a writers' group formed in the 1980s, made up of Minnesota authors known as the Scribblies? Many of them are still in print. Here's a list:
Steven Brust
Emma Bull
Kara Dalkey
Pamela Dean
Will Shetterly
Patricia Wrede

Doctor Who has been on my mind lately. I found some great resources in the collection that might be interest to other Whovians or people not yet introduced to the Doctor.

Who is the doctor: the unoffical guide to Doctor Who, the new series by Graeme Burk & Robert Smith
Doctor Who, the encyclopedia: the definitive guide to the hit BBC series by Gary Russell
The Doctors: the story behind every face of the iconic time lord by Craig Cabell (eBook)
The TARDIS handbook: the offical guide to the best ship in the universe by Steve Tribe.

Did you know the the Oxford online dictionary has an entry for Whovian? Who knew?

The Mythopeic Awards are given to books that best exemplify "the spirit of the Inklings," a group of friends and Oxford professors including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, who met to critique each others work and explore many subjects through wide ranging discussions.

Here are the nominees and winner for 2012:
The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein (winner)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (nominee)
The Heavenly Fox by Richard Parks (nominee) - not owned by HCL
Deathless by Catherynne Valente (nominee)
Among Others by Jo Walton (nominee)

The winners will be announced in early November, but check out all the great World Fantasy Awards nominees to decide for yourself which is the best.

Best Novel:
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
11/22/63 by Stephen King
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Osama by Lavie Tidhar
Among Others by Jo Walton

Sometimes contemplating the end of the world as we know it through a book can be thoughtful experience, and very often it's action-packed as well. Check out book lists such as If You Liked...The Hunger Games and the YA list Apocalypse & Dystopia to discover some great titles about the possibility of a dark future for humanity.

Browse through our Readers' Lists for even more books on this and so many other topics your fellow readers have discovered.

This award for best science fiction novel published in the U.S. will be presented the first weekend in July. Here are the nominees:

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline (Crown)
This Shared Dream, Kathleen Ann Goonan (Tor)
Soft Apocalypse, Will McIntosh (Night Shade)
Embassytown, China Miéville (Del Rey)
The Islanders, Christopher Priest (Gollancz)
The Highest Frontier, Joan Slonczewski (Tor)
Dancing with Bears, Michael Swanwick (Night Shade)
Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson (Simon & Schuster)
Home Fires, Gene Wolfe (Tor)
Seed, Rob Ziegler (Night Shade)

The Horror Writers Association is awarding the Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the Century this year, and the panel of distinguished judges have selected these short-listed titles out of a field of 35 books:

The Soft Whisper of the Dead by Charles L. Grant (not in the library collection)
Salem's Lot by Stephen King
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

The winner will be revealed later this month. We'll keep you posted!
NOTE: And the winner is...I Am Legend by Richard Matheson!

The British Science Fiction Awards short list was announced recently. Sometimes there's a lag before these books get released state-side and/or added to library collections. Top 5 Nominees for Best Novel include:

The Islanders by Christopher Priest
Embassytown by China Mieville
Osama by Lavie Tidhar
Cyber Circus by Kim Lakin-Smith (available as eBook only in U.S.)
By Light Alone by Adam Roberts (not available in U.S.)

The winner will be announced in April at London's Eastercon!

Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) has named Connie Willis as its latest Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master, and has joined fellow women Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Andre Norton on this lifetime achievement list.

Living in Minnesota is a connection between these Grand Masters: Poul Anderson and Clifford D. Simak.

Other great masters of writing you can check out include Michael Moorcock, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Damon Knight, Frederik Pohl, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Fritz Leiber, and the first ever winner, Robert A. Heinlein (1975).