A Game of Thrones

"It’s a reflection on the War of the Roses. I first read it, actually, in manuscript form – I got the very first book in manuscript and read it and gave a blurb for it, and at the time, I instantly knew that this was George’s masterwork. I’m familiar with a lot of George Martin’s other work. I think my first real encounter with him was at a convention, where I picked up a little chap book of his. It was an amazing little story, so full of impact in just a few pages. So then, of course, I went looking for the rest of what he’d written. If you are a reader of A Song of Ice and Fire , I would say, if you haven’t read The Ice Dragon , you’re missing out. Or if you haven’t read any of George’s other books, you’re really, really missing out. There’s so much out there by him. A Song of Ice and Fire basically has a huge cast of characters moving through a time of great turbulence. And you know the warning: ‘winter is coming’! This is a world in which when winter comes, it doesn’t last a season. It lasts for years. There’s just so much to this story, so many wonderful characters. Early on, he introduces some very dark villains, and then pulls the rug out from under the reader by shifting to their point of view – and suddenly they’re not dark villains. They’re people, with goals and ideas and ideals and a morality, which perhaps does not match our current morality or the morality of the other characters. But suddenly these are really fully-fledged, well-rounded characters. You have a kaleidoscope view of this world, because we are shifting between loyalties and between point-of-view characters. It’s a complicated story, and I think the reader has to be willing to invest in it. And as we all know, we would like to have the books finished; but I would rather have it done right than have it done fast. These are incredible books, and if all you have seen is the adaptation for the television you’re missing out on so very much, not the least of which is George’s wonderful writing. So I would urge anybody who thinks they know that world and story to pick up the books and read them."