It’s not easy being mean
george r r martin
Last Supper: The Real-Life Massacre That Inspired the Game of Thrones Red Wedding
Series creator George R.R. Martin borrowed details from a mealtime massacre that took place in Scotland, more than five centuries ago
Tongues of Ice and Fire: Creating the Languages in Game of Thrones
Many long hours — and a brutal competition — went into the creation of High Valyrian and Dothraki
Prize Fight: Why I’m Okay With There Being No Pulitzer for Fiction This Year
I’m not one of your knockabout, knuckle-scarred, Internet-controversy-courting book critics. Occasionally I stumble into controversy accidentally, but not because I enjoy it. It’s probably just because I’m a weird person. …
TIME Plays the Game of Thrones, and Lives to Tell the Tale
We get ready for Sunday’s season two premiere with a board game full of betrayal, intrigue and very confusing rules.
Behind the List: The Making of TIME’s Top 10 Books of the Year
Or 20, really, since we do 10 novels and 10 non-fiction books.
There are years when I’m absolutely burning to put up my top 10 lists, like I want to chisel them on a tablet and come down a mountain with them and proclaim them …
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The Problems of Power: George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons
Note: George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons, the fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series on which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based, is out in stores today. I received a review copy several weeks ago. TIME’s book critic Lev Grossman has already reviewed it. But since I’ve been covering the HBO series, and writing about GRRM’s …
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GRRM Interview Part 4: Personal History
I interviewed George R. R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels on which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based, in Santa Fe last month. Parts 1, 2 and 3 posted here earlier. This last excerpt didn’t really fit anywhere in my piece on Game of Thrones, because it digresses into GRRM’s personal biography and how it influenced his …
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GRRM Interview Part 3: The Twilight Zone and Lost
I interviewed George R. R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels on which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based, in Santa Fe last month. Parts 1 and 2 posted here earlier. In this excerpt, GRRM talks about the learning experience of working for a decade in TV, and, yes, about his opinion of the ending of a certain other …
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GRRM Interview Part 2: Fantasy and History
I interviewed George R. R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels on which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based, in Santa Fe last month. Part one of the interview posted here Friday. Below, GRRM talks about what he loves (and hates) about fantasy and historical fiction, how he sought to combine the two in his books and how he …
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George R. R. Martin Interview, Part 1: Game of Thrones, from Book to TV
If you ever eat a meal with George R. R. Martin, have what he’s having. Martin’s fantasy novels, the source material for HBO’s new Game of Thrones (see a scene from the pilot above), are known for moral ambiguity, complexity and cruelly brilliant plot twists. But they also have fantastic descriptions of food—all that honeyed fowl, …