Interview: George R.R. Martin chats about HBO’s Game Of Thrones

Game Of Thrones debuted its finale episode, “Mother’s Mercy”, for season 5 one week ago–and we still can’t get it out of our minds! As with every season of this award winning series, nobody is safe, not even the main characters. This was apparent from the get-go of Ned Stark’s death in Season 1 and the Red Wedding to name a few. Last night’s season finale was no exception. Creator George R.R. Martin of the world famous book series spoke with Comic Con attendees and reporters last year about his choice to not follow the traditional route of story plots and be unpredictable. Let’s turn back the clock and revisit George R.R. Martin as he talks about “Game Of Thrones” and writing in general after the jump. And for you fans who have not yet seen the season finale, warning, there are spoiler alerts…

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George R.R. Martin was born to be write. During his early years in New Jersey, he wrote monster stories to neighborhood children and later started to write fiction for comic fanzines in high school. At 20 years old, he made his first professional sale, The Hero in 1970 sold to Galaxy Magazine. After graduating summa cum laude with a journalism degree degree along with an MS from Northwestern, he taught journalism at Clark College in Dubuque, Iowa. He later left his teaching job to focus on writing full time, including several novels. In 1986, he moved to Hollywood and became story editor for “The Twilight Zone” followed by executive story consultant for “Beauty and the Beast”.

He returned to writing novels and in 1991, his epic series A Song Of Fire And Ice was met with much acclaim. The first book, Game Of Thrones, was released in 1996. The fourth novel in this series, A Feast for Crows, became the New York Times no. 1 bestseller. By the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons published in 2011, it had become an international bestseller, and hit no. 1 on the New York Times bestseller again. It remained on the list for 88 weeks. A Dance with Dragons went on to win the Locus Poll ward for Best Fantasy Novel.

A Song Of Fire and Ice was later adapted for HBO by show runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss into the award winning “Game Of Thrones”, which premiered in April 17, 2011. During its run, the television series has garnered numerous awards and nominations, including a Prime Time Emmy Award nomination for outstanding drama series, a Golden Globe Award nomination for best television series-Drama. Actor Peter Dinklage won an Emmy and Golden Globe for her performance as Tyrion Lannister.

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George R.R. Martin currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he is currently completing the next novels in this famous book series–The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.

George talks about the departure of “Game Of Thrones” season 5 from his books, which character was the hardest to write for A Song Of Fire And Ice, and what he would name a dragon if he owned it as a pet. See the series through the eyes of the creator himself, George R.R. Martin, in the interview below!

Once again, “Game Of Thrones” hits it out of the park for the unexpected. Numerous times since season 1 and the first great loss of one of my favorite characters Ned Stark, followed by ongoing slaughter of other characters, I have learned to simply not expect. You never know what is going to happen. With many cringeworthy scenes that had an outcry by fans such as this season’s “honeymoon scene” with Sanza Stark and the loss of one of my other favorite characters Jon Snow, I can only hope that perhaps like the fallen who were resurrected as the undead white walkers, perhaps he may appear in Season 6. But it is “Game Of Thrones”, so all bets are off.

The so-called evil characters of the show meet with up with the evil they threw out during the previous seasons, including season 5. With Cersei walking through an angry crowd, bloodied feet and stripped of her glorious blonde locks and Stannis Baratheon facing the sword of the squire of his brother who he killed, it seems that everyone is getting what they deserve. Oh so we think. Hints of possible revenge is hinted as Cersei finally reunites with her beloved kingdom. And we never saw Stannis officially losing his head.

Compared to season 1, we certainly see a change in the “good guys” as well. Arya Stark develops a violent streak in her thirst for revenge and Daenyris has no problem killing off or banishing people who threaten her leadership position. Of course, nothing comes easy. Arya is suddenly blinded and Daenyris is captured by strangers. Incidentally, we see a softer Jaime Lannister which could potentially change with the loss of his daughter. Stay tuned for season 6.

As mentioned in Goerge RR Martin’s interviews, he chose not to write for season 5 in effort to focus on finishing his next book for hardcore fans of his books. Book readers have seen a departure from the series widening every season, such as Sanza’s marriage and characters that were killed prematurely in the television series compared to the books. It is unknown what will continue to change as George RR Martin is not expected to be involved in writing for season 6. Despite these changes, fans of the HBO series are not deterred from watching their beloved show.

I salute George RR Martin for creating a book series, and ultimately a television series that continues to attract millions of followers worldwide. It has been said that a show has hit success when Saturday Night Live makes a parody of it, and everybody else. From SNL’s “Game Of South Centros” to Jimmy Fallon’s “Game Of Desks” on “The Tonight Show” to short independent films such as “Game Of Scones“, the list goes one. There are even John Snow impersonators as seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Now, we must wait another year until season 6. No worries, the fans will be waiting.