Winter is the last thing on our minds today, what with the sun's rays slicing through entertainment towers, but that doesn't mean we aren't glad it's coming, now that Game of Thrones Season 4 has started production in Northern Ireland.

As per IFTN the HBO gang are back to start work on the TV adaptation of the second half of 'A Storm of Swords'. We're sure plenty of you are still emotionally scarred after that Season 3 finale, so you probably won't be too pleased to hear that Season 4 picks up where it left off. Sure look, the show must go on. They'll be shooting in Iceland and Croatia shortly too.

The Irish faces are still plentiful, with the likes of Jack Gleeson, Aiden Gillen, Liam Cunningham and Ciaran Hinds due to return. And sure you never know, we might fit another few in there when more casting announcements are made.

Meanwhile, George RR Martin is still working to finish the book series before the TV show catches up with him. He did take a break to talk Iron Thrones on his personal Livejournal the other day though, revealing that the one in the show ain't quite how he imagined it:

The HBO throne has become iconic. And well it might. It's a terrific design, and it has served the show very well. There are replicas and paperweights of it in three different sizes. Everyone knows it. I love it. I have all those replicas right here, sitting on my shelves.

And yet, and yet... it's still not right. It's not the Iron Throne I see when I'm working on THE WINDS OF WINTER. It's not the Iron Throne I want my readers to see. The way the throne is described in the books... HUGE, hulking, black and twisted, with the steep iron stairs in front, the high seat from which the king looks DOWN on everyone in the court... my throne is a hunched beast looming over the throne room, ugly and assymetric...

The HBO throne is none of those things. It's big, yes, but not nearly as big as the one described in the novels. And for good reason. We have a huge throne room set in Belfast, but not nearly huge enough to hold the Iron Throne as I painted it. For that we'd need something much bigger, more like the interior of St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey, and no set has that much room. The Book Version of the Iron Throne would not even fit through the doors of the Paint Hall.

Here's what it's supposed to look like. We're assuming that's bratty Joffrey sitting atop the pile of swords. Now, does anyone fancy a spin up north?