George R. R. Martin

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Science Fiction Writer
Books · Authors · Films · Television
George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin
Born:	September 20, 1948 Bayonne, New Jersey
Occupation(s):	Novelist
Genre(s):	Fantasy, Science-Fiction
Magnum Opus:	A Song of Ice and Fire
Influences:	L. Frank Baum, Charles Dickens, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny
Website:	http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

George Raymond Richard Martin, sometimes called GRRM, born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey is an American author and screenwriter of science fiction, horror, and fantasy.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Themes 3 Fan relationship 4 Bibliography 4.1 Novels 4.2 Novellas 4.3 Collections 5 Wild Cards (as editor, and contributor to many editions) 5.1 Children's books 6 Awards 7 See also 8 Footnotes 9 External links 9.1 Interviews

[edit] Biography

As a youth, Martin became an avid reader and collector of comic books. Issue 20 (Nov 1963) of Fantastic Four features a letter to the editor that he wrote during high school under the name George R. Martin. He credits the attention he received from this letter, as well as his following interest in fanzines, with leading to his interest in becoming a writer.^[1]

Martin wrote short fiction in the early 1970s, and won several Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards before he began writing novels late in the decade. Although much of his work is fantasy or horror, a number of his earlier works are science fiction occurring in a loosely-defined future history. He has also written at least one piece of political-military fiction, "Night of the Vampyres", collected in Harry Turtledove's anthology The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century.^[2]

In the 1980s he turned to work in television and as a book editor. On television, he worked on the new Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast series. As an editor, he oversaw the lengthy Wild Cards cycle, which took place in a shared universe in which an alien virus bestowed strange powers or disfigurements on a slice of humanity during World War II, affecting the history of the world thereafter (the premise was inspired by comic book superheroes and a Superworld superhero role-playing game of which Martin was gamemaster). Contributors to the Wild Cards series included Stephen Leigh, Lewis Shiner, Howard Waldrop, Walter Jon Williams and Roger Zelazny. His own contributions to the series often featured Thomas Tudbury, "The Great and Powerful Turtle", a powerful psychokinetic whose flying "shell" consisted of an armored VW Beetle.

Martin's short story of the same name was adapted into the feature film Nightflyers (1987).

In 1996 Martin returned to writing novel-length stories, beginning his lengthy cycle A Song of Ice and Fire (ostensibly inspired by the Wars of the Roses and Ivanhoe). In November of 2005, A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in this series, became The New York Times #1 Bestseller and also achieved #1 ranking on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. In addition, in September 2006 A Feast for Crows was nominated for both a Quill award, and the British Fantasy Award.^[3] The series has received praise from authors, publishers, readers and critics alike.

It was announced January, 2007 that HBO Productions has purchased the broadcast rights for the entire A Song of Ice and Fire series, with the author also serving as co-executive producer on the project. The plan calls for each book from the series to be filmed over an entire season's worth of episodes. Production will take place in Europe or New Zealand and Martin is reported to have agreed to script one episode per season. Further details are expected to be announced soon.^[4]

Martin has also been an instructor in journalism (in which he holds a master's degree) and a chess tournament director. In his spare time he collects medieval-themed miniatures^[5] and continues to treasure his comic collection, which includes the first issues of Spiderman and Fantastic Four. Although he is fairly active on the internet, he notes: "I do my writing on a completely different computer than the one I use for email and the internet, in part to guard against viruses, worms, and nightmares like this. (...) I write with WordStar 4.0 on a pure DOS-based machine."^[6]

[edit] Themes

Martin's work is rarely cheerful; critics have described it as dark and cynical. ^[7] His first novel, Dying of the Light, set the tone for most of his future work; it is set on a mostly abandoned world that is slowly becoming uninhabitable as it moves away from its sun. This story, and many of Martin's others, have a strong sense of melancholy. His characters are often unhappy, or at least unsatisfied, and many have elements of tragic heroes. Reviewer T. M. Wagner writes, "Let it never be said Martin doesn't share Shakespeare's fondness for the senselessly tragic." ^[8] However, this gloominess can be an obstacle for some readers. The Inchoatus Group writes, "If this absence of joy is going to trouble you, or you’re looking for something more affirming, then you should probably seek elsewhere." ^[9]

His characters are also multi-faceted, each with surprisingly intricate pasts, inspirations, and ambitions. Publisher's Weekly writes "The complexity of characters such as Daenarys [sic], Arya and the Kingslayer will keep readers turning even the vast number of pages contained in this volume, for the author, like Tolkien or Jordan, makes us care about their fates." ^[10] No one is given an unrealistic string of luck, however, so misfortune, injury, and death (and even false death) can befall any character, no matter how attached the reader has become. Martin once described his reasons for killing off characters as "...when my characters are in danger, I want you to be afraid to turn the page, (so) you need to show right from the beginning that you're playing for keeps." ^[11]

[edit] Fan relationship

In addition to writing, Martin is known for his regular attendance at science fiction conventions and his accessibility to fans. In the early 70's, critic and writer Thomas Disch identified Martin as a member of the "Labor Day Group",^[12] writers who congregated at the annual Worldcon, usually held around Labor Day.

Martin has a good relationship with his official fan club, the Brotherhood without Banners, and has praised them in the past for their parties^[13] and philanthropic efforts.^[14] As of December 2006, the organization has over 1,000 official members listed on its website.^[15]

Martin is opposed to fan fiction, believing it to be copyright infringement and bad exercise for aspiring writers. He does not allow any of his intellectual property to be used in fan fiction.^[16]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Novels

• Dying of the Light (1977)
• Windhaven (1981, with Lisa Tuttle)
• Fevre Dream (1982)
• The Armageddon Rag (1983)
• Dead Man's Hand (1990, with John J. Miller)

• A Song of Ice and Fire series:
  • A Game of Thrones (1996)
  • A Clash of Kings (1998)
  • A Storm of Swords (2000)
  • A Feast for Crows (2005)
  • A Dance with Dragons (forthcoming)
  • The Winds of Winter (forthcoming)
  • A Dream of Spring (forthcoming)

• Shadow Twin (2005, with Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham)

[edit] Novellas

• Night of the Vampyres, originally in Amazing, 1975, re-published in The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century
• The Skin Trade (1989) from the three-author collection Dark Visions.
• The Hedge Knight (1998) - set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire
• The Sworn Sword (2003) - sequel to The Hedge Knight

[edit] Collections

• A Song for Lya (1976)
• Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977)
• Sandkings (1981)
• Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983)
• Nightflyers (1985)
• Tuf Voyaging (1987, collection of linked stories)
• Portraits of His Children (1987)
• Quartet (2001)
• GRRM: A RRetrospective (2003; reissued 2006 and 2007 as Dreamsongs)

[edit] Wild Cards (as editor, and contributor to many editions)

• Wild Cards I (1987)
• Wild Cards II: Aces High (1987)
• Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild (1987)
• Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad (1988)
• Wild Cards V: Down & Dirty (1988)
• Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole (1990)
• Wild Cards VII: Dead Man's Hand (1990)
• Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks (1991)
• Wild Cards IX: Jokertown Shuffle (1991)
• Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire (1992)
• Wild Cards XI: Dealer's Choice (1992)
• Wild Cards XII: Turn of the Cards (1993)

• Wild Cards: Card Sharks (1993)
• Wild Cards: Marked Cards (1994)
• Wild Cards: Black Trump (1995) (these three books are a trilogy)

• Wild Cards: Deuces Down (2002)
• Wilds Cards: Death Draws Five (2006)

[edit] Children's books

• The Ice Dragon (Originally printed in 1980^[17], illustrated and re-printed October, 2006)

[edit] Awards

• "A Song for Lya" 1975 Hugo Award for Best Novella
• "Sandkings" 1980 Hugo Award for Best Novelette and Nebula Award for Best Novelette
• "The Way of Cross and Dragon" 1980 Hugo Award for Best Short Story
• "Portraits of His Children" 1986 Nebula Award for Best Novelette
• "The Pear-Shaped Man" 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Long Fiction
• "The Skin Trade" 1989 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella
• "Blood of the Dragon" 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella
• "A Feast for Crows" 2006 Quill award and British Fantasy Award (nominated)

A more complete list of Martin's awards and nominations can be found at The Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards.

[edit] See also

• List of horror fiction authors
• Splatterpunk

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Official site: Speech at Electracon, 23 June 1984. URL accessed 21 November 2006.
2. ^ Turtledove, Harry, ed, with Martin H. Greenberg. The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century. New York: Ballantine, May 2001, p. 279-306.
3. ^ A Feast for Crows award nominaions
4. ^ ASoIaF to become a television series
5. ^ http://www.georgerrmartin.com/knights/index.html
6. ^ Not A Blog [1]
7. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129596,00.html "The American Tolkien" by Lev Grossman, a Times article on Martin.
8. ^ http://www.sfreviews.net/stormofswords.html Review of A Storm of Swords by T. M. Wagner
9. ^ http://www.inchoatus.com/Reviews/Review--A%20Storm%20of%20Swords,%20George%20Martin.htm Review of A Game of Thrones by The Inchoatus Group
10. ^ http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/bd.aspx?isbn=0553106635&pub=pw Review of A Storm of Swords by Publisher's Weekly
11. ^ Geekson interview with George RR Martin, 08/04/06
12. ^ http://www.georgerrmartin.com/sp-lasfs81.html Essay by GRRM discussing his status as a member of the "Labour Day Group"
13. ^ [http://www.bwbfanclub.com/fr_grrm.php
14. ^ http://www.childsplaycharity.org/index.php
15. ^ http://www.bwbfanclub.com/mb_member.php
16. ^ http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Fan_Fiction/
17. ^ Review of The Ice Dragon with a footnote on the original printing

[edit] External links

• George R. R. Martin official site
• Not A Blog: George R. R. Martin's Livejournal
• George R. R. Martin's Podcast
• Interview with George R. R. Martin in Abebooks.com

• Westeros: The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain (a major fansite)
• George R. R. Martin at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Brotherhood without Banners official site
• George R.R. Martin at the Internet Book List

[edit] Interviews

• Interview with George R.R. Martin conducted by Jay Tomio at Fantasybookspot.com (June 2006)
• Interview with George R.R. Martin at SFFWorld.com