With all the Hobbit news flying around airwaves and websites, TheOneRing.net spoke with Fictional Frontiers about the process of breaking the news that Guillermo del Toro was leaving ‘The Hobbit’ and the possibilities of who might replace him and the state of things in general. You can listen to MrCere‘s interview that starts just before the 22 minute mark. Also featured are James Berardinelli of www.reelviews.net and finally the great author George R.R. Martin. Catch the whole show right here.

An old TORn friend writes in:
“According to George R.R. Martin’s “Not a Blog” the latest Calendar of paintings of locations from his “Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy series will be illustrated by none other than LOTR illustrator Ted Nasmith. According to Martin’s website, the calendar will be debuting from publisher Bantam Spectra at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con in July.

For fans of Westros and other “Ice and Fire” environs, this series is currently in production with HBO starring Sean Bean. (But you already knew that…) I’m sure that Ted Nasmith isn’t the last LOTR alum to hop onboard this blockbuster fantasy series!

See the pretty pictures here.