Time didn’t name George R.R. Martin "the American Tolkien" for nothing. With the success of his ongoing epic series A Song of Ice and Fire — whose last few titles have topped the New York Times best-seller list — the author has established himself as a giant in modern fantasy fiction. Not bad for a former fanzine writer who had a stint as a story editor on The Twilight Zone in the mid-’80s. This fall, Martin is publishing two hefty volumes of stories, Dreamsongs Vol. 1 and 2, showing his broad range of narrative styles.
But we at EW could use your help. Chances are, some of you PopWatchers know Martin’s work better than we do. So we’d like to turn over the questions in an upcoming interview with the author to you. If you were to get Martin in a room, what would you ask him? Your queries can be general (what are your influences?) or super-specific (what did you mean on page 374 of A Feast of Crows?). Post your questions below.
Comments (1-30) of 64 Add your comment
When is the next Wildcards novel?
I’m sure he’s never been asked this – when is the next Song of Ice and Fire book coming out?
Where do Ice Zombies come from?
Other than the desperate cry for a release date? Other than the ‘Is REALLY dead?’
I’d ask who the third head of the dragon is. I’m fairly certain I know who the first two are.
In “Feast of Crows,” the girls survive by assuming new identities, while the adult women all fail. Was this a deliberate theme or an accident?
Doh, that should be “Feast For Crows,” not “Feast Of Crows.”
Question for GRRM: How did Wheel of Time author Robert Jordan’s recent death affect your personal and professional priorities?
Will you promise not to Robert Jordan us?
This is a cruel question, considering Martin was friends with Jordan, and Jordan passed away only a few weeks ago. But there IS a faction of fantasy readers who were enraged (the word betrayed is used) by Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” turning into an endless meander that they felt he milked for our dollars.
When “A Feast for Crows” came out, and a full half of the characters didn’t appear in it, (as occurred in Jordan’s own book five, the beginning of the endless meander), “A Dance of Dragons” was instantly promised in about six month’s time–it was just the other half of “Feast” that was divided off, so it was practically written. It’s been a year and a half since then and there’s NO SIGN of it (even after an idea of an HBO series which meant forced due dates for the last four books.) There’s a growing sense of dread among the fantasy readers who have bought in that we may be burned again.
No, I don’t actually expect you to ask this. Thanks.
Why do you find it so easy to kill off your main characters?
Question for GRRM: Given that “A Dance With Dragons” focuses on the characters left out of the “Feast of Crows”, when will we see “Feast’s cliffhangers resolved (i.e. what happens to Cersei)? At the end of the “Dance”, or will we have to wait until “The Winds of Winter”?
Can you give us some hint about the fate of Brienne?
Which family do you enjoy writing about the most? Are there any families or individual characters that you started writing one way, but they evolved into something different?
There are many recurring themes in your work, but one I haven’t seen you comment on so much are: the super-powerful (and sometimes super-evil) children. You seem interested in juveniles who are raised to all kinds of power and responsibility far beyond their years, and how they respond (sometimes well, sometimes … really not well) to that. Have you thought about where that interest of yours comes from? Do you see this as one of the important themes of _A Song of Ice and Fire_?
What’s going on with HBO turning The Song of Ice and Fire into a TB series?
What’s going on with HBO turning The Song of Ice and Fire into a TV series?
There are definite symbolisms to be found in the relationships and shared fates of the Stark children with their direwolf companions. Will Arya ever be reunited with Nymeria?
Are you going to continue your Wildcards series? Will it be a multi-author collaboration or a single writer work?
I see there is a Wild Cards book coming out in February. What is your role in that series now? What can you expect for the future? What do you see as the legacy of this shared universe? What, if any, television or film plans are there for the Wild Cards Universe?
What are your thoughts on Duke football beating Northwestern?
Do you already know how all the characters and story arcs end? Or are there any characters who are suprising you as you write them?
Wow Laura! I feel exactly the same way. I loved the first three books, but I have finally decided to just wait until he’s done to read the rest of the series. I hate feeling as if my chain is being yanked. I made the same decision about Jordan.
How do you think the trend in “urban fantasy” is affecting traditional fantasy?
What authors are you rally enjoying reading right now?
Do you know how you want to end the Song of Ice and Fire series? If so, how long into the series did you have the ending in mind? And if not, has anything surprising happened in the books that you didn’t expect when you started?
Why are you writing short stories instead of giving us more Ice and Fire? And are you eating healthily, exercising moderately and avoiding accident black spots when driving?
When is the next book following ‘A Feast for Crows’ coming out? Why is it taking so long if it’s already been written?
How did you get the idea to base a fantasy series on the late Wars of the Roses, and what were your major sources of inspiration? Were the Targaryens intended as Normans?
Loved Fevre Dream – will you ever write a horror novel again?
Of course people will bring up Robert Jordan when discussing George R. R. Martin’s claim to Tolkien. I think that R.J.’s premature death on the eve of finishing his final Wheel of Time novel will lead to more speculation and obsession than a living author with ongoing books. I hope Mr. Martin will continue writing for a very long time. His is definately one of the best writers in the genre. For me he will always be a Salieri to Jordan’s Mozart.
Here’s a really particular question (which I realize means it probably won’t get asked in a general interview): In “A Storm of Swords” there is a chapter early on where Sansa is thinking back to the scene at the end of “A Clash of Kings” when The Hound came into her room during the battle. She thinks in the chapter about how he kissed her, but in the scene in “A Clash of Kings” this didn’t actually happen. Was that a typo or something?
Dear Mr. Martin,
I understand that you have a life outside of Fire and Ice, but I feel like you’re just being cavalier towards your fans, who’ve been patiently waiting for you to finish a book that’s been half done for several years now. Look at Robert Jordan… he was trying to get his last work done (at least when he had the strength) up until he passed away. Why do you feel like you can blow off your fans like this? Do you realize that it feels totally disrespectful to the people that have helped make you successful?
1 Did your conception of any of the characters change in the course of writing the books, particularly during A Game of Thrones? In general, how has your conception of the series changed (if at all) in the course of writing it?
2 What do you think is the element of your work most misinterpreted by your readers?
3 In work completed on the series so far, what elements of your writing (specific characters, descriptions, plot points etc.) are you most and least happy with your depiction of?
4 What parts of the books are you most excited to convert into TV and what do you expect the greatest challenges to be in terms of making the transition from one medium to the other?
5 If you could pick only one scene from your work to be filmed, which would it be?