A Song of Ice and Fire
Encyclopedia
A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin
. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes; a further two are planned. In addition there are three prequel
novellas currently available, with several more being planned, and a series of novella-length excerpts from the main Ice and Fire novels.
The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily on a continent called Westeros
but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos. Most of the characters are human but as the series progresses others are introduced, such as the assumed-to-be-extinct cold supernatural Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East. The series is told in the third-person through the eyes of a number of point of view
characters, 25 by the end of the fifth book.
There are three story lines that become increasingly interwoven: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros among several competing families; the rising threat of the Others, who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years before, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne.
The "Ice and Fire" series has been translated into more than 20 languages. The fourth and fifth volumes reached the top of The New York Times
bestseller lists in 2005 and 2011. Overall, the series has sold more than seven million copies in the USA and more than 15 million copies worldwide. One of the excerpt novellas won science fiction
's Hugo Award
. The series is the basis of a great number of derived works, including the HBO TV series Game of Thrones
, a comic book adaptation
, a card game
, a board game
, a role-playing game and two video games.
The first storyline, set in the Seven Kingdoms themselves, chronicles a many-sided struggle for the Iron Throne that develops after King Robert's death. The throne is claimed by his son Joffrey, supported by his mother's powerful family, House Lannister. However, Lord Eddard Stark, King Robert's Hand, finds out Robert's children are illegitimate, and that the throne should therefore fall to the second of the three Baratheon brothers, Stannis. The charismatic and popular youngest brother, Renly, also places a claim, openly disregarding the order of precedence, with the support of the powerful House Tyrell. While the claimants battle for the Iron Throne, Robb Stark, Lord Eddard Stark's heir, is proclaimed King in the North as the northmen and their allies in the Riverlands seek to return to self-rule. Likewise, Balon Greyjoy also (re-)claims the ancient throne of his own region, the Iron Islands, with an eye toward independence.
This so-called War of the Five Kings is the principal storyline of the first four novels; indeed, the fourth novel primarily concerns Westeros's recovery from it in the face of the coming winter and the political machinations of those seeking to gain in its aftermath. In the wake of the war, four of the five self-proclaimed kings have been killed, leaving Stannis as the sole survivor. The Iron Throne is currently held by Tommen Baratheon, allegedly Robert's son, but illegitimate too. His former regent, Cersei Lannister has been deposed and imprisoned in King's Landing by the clergy. Stannis and his army, having gained little support from the Great Houses of Westeros, are presently at the Wall, far to the north where Stannis seeks to protect the realm from the threat of invasion, and simultaneously win the favor of the northern strongholds.
The second storyline is set on the extreme northern border of Westeros. Here, many thousands of years ago, a huge wall of ice and gravel was constructed by both magic and labor to defend Westeros from the threat of The Others, a race of now-mythical creatures living in the uttermost north. This Wall, 300 miles (482.8 km) long and 700 feet (213.4 m) tall, is defended and maintained by the Sworn Brotherhood of the Night's Watch, whose duty is to guard the kingdom against the Others. By the time of the novels, the Others have not been seen in over 8,000 years, and the Night's Watch has devolved into essentially a penal colony: it is badly under-strength, manned primarily by criminals and refugees, with only a few knights or men of honor to stiffen them, and spends most of its time dealing with the human "wildlings" or "free folk" who live beyond the Wall. This storyline is told primarily through the eyes of Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark, as he rises through the ranks of the Watch, learns the true nature of the threat from the north, and prepares to defend the realm, even though the people of Westeros are too busy warring to send support. By the end of the third volume, this storyline is somewhat entangled with the civil war to the south.
The third storyline is set on the huge eastern continent of Essos, across the narrow sea, and follows the adventures of Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen in exile and another claimant to the Iron Throne. Daenerys's adventures showcase her growing ability as she rises from a pauper sold into a dynastic marriage to a barbarian warlord to a powerful and canny ruler in her own right. Her rise is aided by the birth of three dragons, creatures thought long extinct, from fossilized eggs given to her as wedding gifts. Because her family standard is the dragon, these creatures are of symbolic value before they have grown big enough to be of tactical use. Though her story is separated from the others by many thousands of miles, her stated goal is to reclaim the Iron Throne.
and horror genres; however, eventually several fantasy stories did appear, such as The Ice Dragon, which he later turned into an illustrated children's book by the same name. In the mid-1980s, Martin worked mainly in Hollywood, principally as a writer or producer on The New Twilight Zone
and Beauty and the Beast
.
After Beauty and the Beast ended in 1989, Martin returned to writing prose and started work on a science fiction novel called Avalon. In 1991, while struggling with this story, Martin conceived of a scene where several youngsters find a dead direwolf with a stag's antler in its throat. The direwolf has birthed several pups, which are then taken by the youngsters to raise as their own. Martin's imagination was fired by this idea, and he eventually developed this scene into an epic fantasy story, which he first envisioned as a trilogy consisting of the novels A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons and The Winds of Winter. Martin had apparently not been previously inspired by the genre, but reading Tad Williams
' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
series convinced him it could be approached in a more adult and mature way than previous authors had attempted.
After a lengthy hiatus spent writing and producing a television pilot for a science fiction series he had created called Doorways, Martin resumed work in 1994 on A Game of Thrones and completed it the following year, although he was only partway through his initial plan for the first novel. As a result, over time, Martin eventually expanded his plan for the series to include four books, then six, and finally seven, as the tale "grew in the telling," he said, quoting epic fantasy master J.R.R. Tolkien. Publication of A Game of Thrones followed in 1996. In the UK, the book was the subject of a fierce bidding war, eventually won by HarperCollins
for £450,000. Pre-release publicity included publication of a "sample novella" called Blood of the Dragon, which went on to win the 1997 Hugo Award
for Best Novella. To fit A Game of Thrones into one volume, Martin had pulled out the last quarter or so of the book and made it the opening section of the second book, 1998's A Clash of Kings. In May 2005 Martin noted that his manuscript for A Game of Thrones had been 1088 pages long without the appendices, and A Clash of Kings was even longer at 1184 pages.
and Tad Williams
. According to Martin, "Although I differ from Tolkien in important ways, I’m second to no one in my respect for him. If you look at Lord of the Rings, it begins with a tight focus and all the characters are together. Then by end of the first book the Fellowship splits up and they have different adventures. I did the same thing. Everybody is at Winterfell in the beginning except for Dany, then they split up into groups, and ultimately those split up too. The intent was to fan out, then curve and come back together. Finding the point where that turn begins has been one of the issues I’ve wrestled with."
The series differs from Tolkien's inspiration in its greater use of realistic elements. While Tolkien was inspired by mythology
, A Song of Ice and Fire is more clearly influenced by medieval and early modern history, most notably Jacobitism
and the Wars of the Roses
. Likewise, while Tolkien tended toward romantic relationships, Martin writes frankly of sex, including incest, adultery, prostitution, and rape.
As a result, illegitimate
children play prominent roles throughout the series. This has led to the series being cited as the forerunners of a 'gritty' new wave of epic fantasy authors that followed, including Scott Lynch
and Joe Abercrombie
. On his website, Martin has acknowledged historical fiction
authors such as Bernard Cornwell
and George MacDonald Fraser
to be influences on the series. Martin has cited the cover blurb
by Robert Jordan
for the first book to have been influential in ensuring the series' early success with fantasy readers.
edition and hardcover
editions, with the exception of A Dance with Dragons, which became available in hardcover on July 12, 2011.
Martin originally intended the series to be a trilogy. A Game of Thrones was released in 1996, with A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords following each two years apart. After expanding the series to four volumes, Martin remarked that "now I am inclined to think it will be longer than that. What can I say? It's a BIG story, and a cast of thousands." Martin began writing the intended fourth volume A Dance with Dragons in 2000 after the completion of A Storm of Swords. The story was to pick up five years after the previous volume, but Martin found it increasingly difficult to make this work without an over-reliance on flashbacks. At the World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia on 1 September 2001, Martin announced that he was scrapping more than a year's work and writing a different fourth book that would fill in the gap, named A Feast for Crows. He found it extremely difficult to go back and start again, especially as this novel was not planned for in his scheme for the series, and work on the book progressed slowly.
By May 2005, A Feast for Crows had become longer than A Storm of Swords (the manuscript for which had been 1521 pages) and Martin's publishers said they could not publish the book in one volume. They suggested splitting the book in two and releasing the volumes as A Feast for Crows, Volume I and A Feast for Crows, Volume II, but Martin was unhappy with this idea. After discussing the matter with his publishers and his friend and fellow writer Daniel Abraham
, Martin decided to split the book by character and location instead. The published A Feast for Crows thus contained all of the characters in the South of the Seven Kingdoms, while A Dance with Dragons contains the characters in the North, the Free Cities and in Slaver's Bay. Martin said this move would likely require the series to have seven volumes, recognizing that "you [the fans] may be disappointed, especially when you buy A Feast for Crows and discover that your favorite character does not appear, but given the realities I think this was the best solution... and the more I look at it, the more convinced I am that these two parallel novels, when taken together, will actually tell the story better than one big book." Upon its release in October 2005, A Feast for Crows immediately won largely positive reviews. Time
dubbed Martin "the American Tolkien
", and the novel went straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. However, reader reviews on Amazon.com were very mixed, with 3 stars (out of five) being the lowest ratings of any book in the series to date.
Despite initial hopes of A Dance with Dragons being published quickly after A Feast for Crows, the writing and revision process for this fifth novel proved more difficult than anticipated. On January 1, 2008, Martin published an update on his website saying he hoped to have the book published in the autumn of 2008. After almost six years, A Dance with Dragons was released on July 12, 2011. The book length is slightly longer than A Storm of Swords, making it the longest book yet published in the series. During the long writing period, Martin insisted that he would not be bullied and works at his own pace, on this and several other projects, to make sure they come out as good as he can possibly make them. A year earlier in June 2010, Martin had already finished four chapters of the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, from the viewpoints of Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, and Arianne Martell. He said to have written over 100 pages for the book. Martin had said in 2006 to have chosen A Dream of Spring as the title for the seventh and expectedly last book of the series.
" after the main protagonists.
The stories are set about ninety years before the novels and for now have no direct connection with the plot of A Song of Ice and Fire. However, there is mentioning of both characters in both A Storm of Swords (p. 620 lists Duncan the Tall as a Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) and A Feast For Crows (Brienne has her shield painted over with his sigil; a tree beneath a falling star. - Egg and Duncan are mentioned by Maester Aemon on the ship to the Citadel; Egg wished Aemon to help him rule but instead has Ser Duncan escort him to the Wall.)
The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword are also both available as graphic novel
s from Dabel Brothers Productions
. The author has said that he would like to write a number of these stories (varying from six to twelve from interview to interview) covering the entire lives of these two characters. The first two installments were published in the Legends and Legends II anthologies. The third "Dunk and Egg" novella, titled The Mystery Knight, was published in March 2010 in the anthology Warriors, edited by Martin and Gardner Dozois
. A fourth installment is currently planned for an as yet untitled sequel to the Warriors anthology. It will focus on Dunk and Egg in the North. Martin announced on his 2011 national book tour that the Dunk and Egg series will be collected into a book and published by Bantam Spectra after the fourth novella is first published in an original anthology he and Gardner Dozois
are editing.
A companion volume for the series is in development by George R. R. Martin and co-authors Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson, although no publication date has been confirmed as yet. García and Antonsson run the largest A Song of Ice and Fire community on the web and assisted in the writing of the first roleplaying game. The companion volume was given the working title The World of Ice and Fire at the 2006 Worldcon
during a discussion among the writers. They confirmed that the book will open with a historical overview of the setting, have a "who's who" of characters and have a large amount of heraldry and at least the Targaryen family tree, and possibly more. The book will contain a large amount of artwork and will be published after A Dance with Dragons is released. The artist Ted Nasmith
, best known for his work on illustrated editions of J. R. R. Tolkien
books, has been asked to do some landscape and castle portraits for the book. In his correspondence with the publishers, Nasmith was told that the target release date was spring 2008, although the book was subsequently moved back.
s and role-playing game
s based on the available novels, as well as two collections of artwork based on and inspired by the Ice and Fire series. The French video game company Cyanide
has announced that they have partnered with Martin to create a video game adaption of the books, entitled A Game of Thrones: Genesis
. There are licensed full-sized sword and war hammer reproductions available; paintable white metal character miniatures; larger resin cast character busts; Westeros coinage reproductions; a forthcoming series of graphic novel adaptations of the "Ice and Fire" series; and a large number of gift and collectible items from HBO based on their cable television series.
, after the first novel
. A pilot episode was produced in 2009 and a series commitment for nine further episodes was made in March 2010. The series premiered on April 17, 2011 to great acclaim and ratings, and two days later the network picked the show up for a second season. Shortly after the conclusion of the first season, the show received 13 Emmy Award
nominations, including Outstanding Drama and Outstanding Supporting Actor.
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...
. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes; a further two are planned. In addition there are three prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
novellas currently available, with several more being planned, and a series of novella-length excerpts from the main Ice and Fire novels.
The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily on a continent called Westeros
Westeros
The fictional world in which the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents. Most of the story takes place on the continent Westeros, which consists of the Seven Kingdoms and an unmapped area to the north, separated by a massive wall of...
but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos. Most of the characters are human but as the series progresses others are introduced, such as the assumed-to-be-extinct cold supernatural Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East. The series is told in the third-person through the eyes of a number of point of view
Point of view (literature)
The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...
characters, 25 by the end of the fifth book.
There are three story lines that become increasingly interwoven: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros among several competing families; the rising threat of the Others, who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years before, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne.
The "Ice and Fire" series has been translated into more than 20 languages. The fourth and fifth volumes reached the top of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestseller lists in 2005 and 2011. Overall, the series has sold more than seven million copies in the USA and more than 15 million copies worldwide. One of the excerpt novellas won science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
's Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
. The series is the basis of a great number of derived works, including the HBO TV series Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
, a comic book adaptation
A Game of Thrones (comic book)
A Game of Thrones is the comic book adaptation of George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel A Game of Thrones, the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The comic book series is scripted by fantasy author Daniel Abraham and drawn by Tommy Patterson...
, a card game
A Game of Thrones (comic book)
A Game of Thrones is the comic book adaptation of George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel A Game of Thrones, the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The comic book series is scripted by fantasy author Daniel Abraham and drawn by Tommy Patterson...
, a board game
A Game of Thrones (board game)
A Game of Thrones is a strategy board game created by Christian T. Petersen and released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2003. The game is based on the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series by George R. R. Martin...
, a role-playing game and two video games.
Synopsis
Set in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, A Song of Ice and Fire follows three principal storylines, divided by geography and participants, struggling to claim the Iron Throne and rule all the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros after the fall of the ruling House Targaryen and the death of King Robert.The first storyline, set in the Seven Kingdoms themselves, chronicles a many-sided struggle for the Iron Throne that develops after King Robert's death. The throne is claimed by his son Joffrey, supported by his mother's powerful family, House Lannister. However, Lord Eddard Stark, King Robert's Hand, finds out Robert's children are illegitimate, and that the throne should therefore fall to the second of the three Baratheon brothers, Stannis. The charismatic and popular youngest brother, Renly, also places a claim, openly disregarding the order of precedence, with the support of the powerful House Tyrell. While the claimants battle for the Iron Throne, Robb Stark, Lord Eddard Stark's heir, is proclaimed King in the North as the northmen and their allies in the Riverlands seek to return to self-rule. Likewise, Balon Greyjoy also (re-)claims the ancient throne of his own region, the Iron Islands, with an eye toward independence.
This so-called War of the Five Kings is the principal storyline of the first four novels; indeed, the fourth novel primarily concerns Westeros's recovery from it in the face of the coming winter and the political machinations of those seeking to gain in its aftermath. In the wake of the war, four of the five self-proclaimed kings have been killed, leaving Stannis as the sole survivor. The Iron Throne is currently held by Tommen Baratheon, allegedly Robert's son, but illegitimate too. His former regent, Cersei Lannister has been deposed and imprisoned in King's Landing by the clergy. Stannis and his army, having gained little support from the Great Houses of Westeros, are presently at the Wall, far to the north where Stannis seeks to protect the realm from the threat of invasion, and simultaneously win the favor of the northern strongholds.
The second storyline is set on the extreme northern border of Westeros. Here, many thousands of years ago, a huge wall of ice and gravel was constructed by both magic and labor to defend Westeros from the threat of The Others, a race of now-mythical creatures living in the uttermost north. This Wall, 300 miles (482.8 km) long and 700 feet (213.4 m) tall, is defended and maintained by the Sworn Brotherhood of the Night's Watch, whose duty is to guard the kingdom against the Others. By the time of the novels, the Others have not been seen in over 8,000 years, and the Night's Watch has devolved into essentially a penal colony: it is badly under-strength, manned primarily by criminals and refugees, with only a few knights or men of honor to stiffen them, and spends most of its time dealing with the human "wildlings" or "free folk" who live beyond the Wall. This storyline is told primarily through the eyes of Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark, as he rises through the ranks of the Watch, learns the true nature of the threat from the north, and prepares to defend the realm, even though the people of Westeros are too busy warring to send support. By the end of the third volume, this storyline is somewhat entangled with the civil war to the south.
The third storyline is set on the huge eastern continent of Essos, across the narrow sea, and follows the adventures of Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen in exile and another claimant to the Iron Throne. Daenerys's adventures showcase her growing ability as she rises from a pauper sold into a dynastic marriage to a barbarian warlord to a powerful and canny ruler in her own right. Her rise is aided by the birth of three dragons, creatures thought long extinct, from fossilized eggs given to her as wedding gifts. Because her family standard is the dragon, these creatures are of symbolic value before they have grown big enough to be of tactical use. Though her story is separated from the others by many thousands of miles, her stated goal is to reclaim the Iron Throne.
Development
Martin had a longtime love of miniature knights and medieval history, but his early novels and short stories mostly fit into the science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and horror genres; however, eventually several fantasy stories did appear, such as The Ice Dragon, which he later turned into an illustrated children's book by the same name. In the mid-1980s, Martin worked mainly in Hollywood, principally as a writer or producer on The New Twilight Zone
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
and Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (TV series)
Beauty and the Beast is an American drama series which first aired on CBS in 1987. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent , a mythic, noble man-beast, and his Catherine , a savvy assistant District attorney in New York; and a...
.
After Beauty and the Beast ended in 1989, Martin returned to writing prose and started work on a science fiction novel called Avalon. In 1991, while struggling with this story, Martin conceived of a scene where several youngsters find a dead direwolf with a stag's antler in its throat. The direwolf has birthed several pups, which are then taken by the youngsters to raise as their own. Martin's imagination was fired by this idea, and he eventually developed this scene into an epic fantasy story, which he first envisioned as a trilogy consisting of the novels A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons and The Winds of Winter. Martin had apparently not been previously inspired by the genre, but reading Tad Williams
Tad Williams
Robert Paul "Tad" Williams, born in San Jose, California, is the author of several fantasy and science fiction novels, including Tailchaser's Song, the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, the Otherland series, and The War of the Flowers....
' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is Tad Williams's epic fantasy trilogy, comprising The Dragonbone Chair , Stone of Farewell , and To Green Angel Tower...
series convinced him it could be approached in a more adult and mature way than previous authors had attempted.
After a lengthy hiatus spent writing and producing a television pilot for a science fiction series he had created called Doorways, Martin resumed work in 1994 on A Game of Thrones and completed it the following year, although he was only partway through his initial plan for the first novel. As a result, over time, Martin eventually expanded his plan for the series to include four books, then six, and finally seven, as the tale "grew in the telling," he said, quoting epic fantasy master J.R.R. Tolkien. Publication of A Game of Thrones followed in 1996. In the UK, the book was the subject of a fierce bidding war, eventually won by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
for £450,000. Pre-release publicity included publication of a "sample novella" called Blood of the Dragon, which went on to win the 1997 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Novella. To fit A Game of Thrones into one volume, Martin had pulled out the last quarter or so of the book and made it the opening section of the second book, 1998's A Clash of Kings. In May 2005 Martin noted that his manuscript for A Game of Thrones had been 1088 pages long without the appendices, and A Clash of Kings was even longer at 1184 pages.
Influences
Martin has acknowledged his debt to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack VanceJack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
and Tad Williams
Tad Williams
Robert Paul "Tad" Williams, born in San Jose, California, is the author of several fantasy and science fiction novels, including Tailchaser's Song, the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, the Otherland series, and The War of the Flowers....
. According to Martin, "Although I differ from Tolkien in important ways, I’m second to no one in my respect for him. If you look at Lord of the Rings, it begins with a tight focus and all the characters are together. Then by end of the first book the Fellowship splits up and they have different adventures. I did the same thing. Everybody is at Winterfell in the beginning except for Dany, then they split up into groups, and ultimately those split up too. The intent was to fan out, then curve and come back together. Finding the point where that turn begins has been one of the issues I’ve wrestled with."
The series differs from Tolkien's inspiration in its greater use of realistic elements. While Tolkien was inspired by mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, A Song of Ice and Fire is more clearly influenced by medieval and early modern history, most notably Jacobitism
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
and the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
. Likewise, while Tolkien tended toward romantic relationships, Martin writes frankly of sex, including incest, adultery, prostitution, and rape.
As a result, illegitimate
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
children play prominent roles throughout the series. This has led to the series being cited as the forerunners of a 'gritty' new wave of epic fantasy authors that followed, including Scott Lynch
Scott Lynch (author)
Scott Lynch is an American fantasy author, best known for his Gentleman Bastard series of novels. He resides in Western Wisconsin in the city of New Richmond, Wisconsin. According to his website, he had a variety of jobs including dishwasher, waiter, web designer, freelance writer and office manager...
and Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie is a British fantasy writer and film editor. He is the author of The First Law trilogy.-Early life:Abercrombie was born in Lancaster, England...
. On his website, Martin has acknowledged historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
authors such as Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell OBE is an English author of historical novels. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of Sharpe television films.-Biography:...
and George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
to be influences on the series. Martin has cited the cover blurb
Blurb
A blurb is a short summary or some words of praise accompanying a creative work, usually used on books without giving away any details, that is usually referring to the words on the back of the book jacket but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases, web portals, and news websites.- History :The...
by Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. , under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.-Biography:Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina...
for the first book to have been influential in ensuring the series' early success with fantasy readers.
Book series
All page totals given below are for the US paperbackPaperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
edition and hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
editions, with the exception of A Dance with Dragons, which became available in hardcover on July 12, 2011.
| # | Title | Pages | Chapters | Audio | Earliest Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award, and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award... |
807 (704 hardcover) | 77 | 33h 53m | August 1996 |
| 2. | A Clash of Kings A Clash of Kings A Clash of Kings is the second novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin expected to consist of eight volumes. It was first published on 16 November 1998 in the United Kingdom, although the first United States edition did not follow until March... |
969 (784 hardcover) | 70 | 37h 17m | November 1998 |
| 3. | A Storm of Swords A Storm of Swords A Storm of Swords is the third of seven planned novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 8 August 2000 in the United Kingdom, with a United States edition following in November 2000... |
1128 (992 hardcover) | 82 | 47h 37m | August 2000 |
| 4. | A Feast for Crows A Feast for Crows A Feast for Crows is the fourth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by American author George R. R. Martin... |
976 (784 hardcover) | 46 | 31h 10m | October 2005 |
| 5. | A Dance with Dragons A Dance with Dragons A Dance with Dragons is the fifth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by American author George R. R. Martin.... |
(959 hardcover) | 73 | 48h 56m | July 2011 |
| 6. | The Winds of Winter The Winds of Winter The Winds of Winter is the sixth novel in the award-winning epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. It takes place after the concurrent fourth and fifth books in the series, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons .-Characters:By June 2010, Martin had finished four... |
(Forthcoming) | |||
| 7. | A Dream of Spring | (Forthcoming) | |||
Martin originally intended the series to be a trilogy. A Game of Thrones was released in 1996, with A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords following each two years apart. After expanding the series to four volumes, Martin remarked that "now I am inclined to think it will be longer than that. What can I say? It's a BIG story, and a cast of thousands." Martin began writing the intended fourth volume A Dance with Dragons in 2000 after the completion of A Storm of Swords. The story was to pick up five years after the previous volume, but Martin found it increasingly difficult to make this work without an over-reliance on flashbacks. At the World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia on 1 September 2001, Martin announced that he was scrapping more than a year's work and writing a different fourth book that would fill in the gap, named A Feast for Crows. He found it extremely difficult to go back and start again, especially as this novel was not planned for in his scheme for the series, and work on the book progressed slowly.
By May 2005, A Feast for Crows had become longer than A Storm of Swords (the manuscript for which had been 1521 pages) and Martin's publishers said they could not publish the book in one volume. They suggested splitting the book in two and releasing the volumes as A Feast for Crows, Volume I and A Feast for Crows, Volume II, but Martin was unhappy with this idea. After discussing the matter with his publishers and his friend and fellow writer Daniel Abraham
Daniel Abraham (author)
Daniel Abraham is a prolific American science fiction / fantasy author who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. His novelette Flat Diane was nominated for the Nebula Award...
, Martin decided to split the book by character and location instead. The published A Feast for Crows thus contained all of the characters in the South of the Seven Kingdoms, while A Dance with Dragons contains the characters in the North, the Free Cities and in Slaver's Bay. Martin said this move would likely require the series to have seven volumes, recognizing that "you [the fans] may be disappointed, especially when you buy A Feast for Crows and discover that your favorite character does not appear, but given the realities I think this was the best solution... and the more I look at it, the more convinced I am that these two parallel novels, when taken together, will actually tell the story better than one big book." Upon its release in October 2005, A Feast for Crows immediately won largely positive reviews. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
dubbed Martin "the American Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
", and the novel went straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. However, reader reviews on Amazon.com were very mixed, with 3 stars (out of five) being the lowest ratings of any book in the series to date.
Despite initial hopes of A Dance with Dragons being published quickly after A Feast for Crows, the writing and revision process for this fifth novel proved more difficult than anticipated. On January 1, 2008, Martin published an update on his website saying he hoped to have the book published in the autumn of 2008. After almost six years, A Dance with Dragons was released on July 12, 2011. The book length is slightly longer than A Storm of Swords, making it the longest book yet published in the series. During the long writing period, Martin insisted that he would not be bullied and works at his own pace, on this and several other projects, to make sure they come out as good as he can possibly make them. A year earlier in June 2010, Martin had already finished four chapters of the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, from the viewpoints of Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, and Arianne Martell. He said to have written over 100 pages for the book. Martin had said in 2006 to have chosen A Dream of Spring as the title for the seventh and expectedly last book of the series.
Excerpt-based novellas
There are three novellas based on chapter sets from the books:- Blood of the Dragon, taken from the Daenerys chapters in A Game of Thrones. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1997.
- Path of the Dragon, based on the Daenerys chapters in A Storm of Swords.
- Arms of the Kraken, based on the Iron Islands chapters from A Feast for Crows.
Tales of Dunk and Egg
There are three separate novellas set in the same world, known as the "Tales of Dunk and EggTales of Dunk and Egg
The Tales of Dunk and Egg is a series of novellas written by George R. R. Martin, set in the world of his Song of Ice and Fire cycle. Three novellas have appeared so far: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight...
" after the main protagonists.
- The Hedge Knight (1998)
- The Sworn Sword (2003)
- The Mystery Knight (2010)
The stories are set about ninety years before the novels and for now have no direct connection with the plot of A Song of Ice and Fire. However, there is mentioning of both characters in both A Storm of Swords (p. 620 lists Duncan the Tall as a Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) and A Feast For Crows (Brienne has her shield painted over with his sigil; a tree beneath a falling star. - Egg and Duncan are mentioned by Maester Aemon on the ship to the Citadel; Egg wished Aemon to help him rule but instead has Ser Duncan escort him to the Wall.)
The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword are also both available as graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s from Dabel Brothers Productions
Dabel Brothers Productions
Dabel Brothers Productions is a U.S. publishing company of comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in 2001 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia...
. The author has said that he would like to write a number of these stories (varying from six to twelve from interview to interview) covering the entire lives of these two characters. The first two installments were published in the Legends and Legends II anthologies. The third "Dunk and Egg" novella, titled The Mystery Knight, was published in March 2010 in the anthology Warriors, edited by Martin and Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois is an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004...
. A fourth installment is currently planned for an as yet untitled sequel to the Warriors anthology. It will focus on Dunk and Egg in the North. Martin announced on his 2011 national book tour that the Dunk and Egg series will be collected into a book and published by Bantam Spectra after the fourth novella is first published in an original anthology he and Gardner Dozois
Gardner Dozois
Gardner Raymond Dozois is an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004...
are editing.
A companion volume for the series is in development by George R. R. Martin and co-authors Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson, although no publication date has been confirmed as yet. García and Antonsson run the largest A Song of Ice and Fire community on the web and assisted in the writing of the first roleplaying game. The companion volume was given the working title The World of Ice and Fire at the 2006 Worldcon
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
during a discussion among the writers. They confirmed that the book will open with a historical overview of the setting, have a "who's who" of characters and have a large amount of heraldry and at least the Targaryen family tree, and possibly more. The book will contain a large amount of artwork and will be published after A Dance with Dragons is released. The artist Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith
Ted Nasmith is a Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works — The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion....
, best known for his work on illustrated editions of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
books, has been asked to do some landscape and castle portraits for the book. In his correspondence with the publishers, Nasmith was told that the target release date was spring 2008, although the book was subsequently moved back.
Reception
- A Game of ThronesA Game of ThronesA Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award, and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award...
(1996) - Locus AwardLocus AwardThe Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
winner, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards nominee, 1997 - A Clash of KingsA Clash of KingsA Clash of Kings is the second novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin expected to consist of eight volumes. It was first published on 16 November 1998 in the United Kingdom, although the first United States edition did not follow until March...
(1998) - Locus Award winner, Nebula Award nominee, 1999 - A Storm of SwordsA Storm of SwordsA Storm of Swords is the third of seven planned novels in A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 8 August 2000 in the United Kingdom, with a United States edition following in November 2000...
(2000) - Locus Award winner, Hugo and Nebula Awards nominee, 2001 - A Feast for CrowsA Feast for CrowsA Feast for Crows is the fourth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by American author George R. R. Martin...
(2005) - Hugo, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 2006
Merchandise
There are board gameBoard game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
s and role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s based on the available novels, as well as two collections of artwork based on and inspired by the Ice and Fire series. The French video game company Cyanide
Cyanide (studio)
Cyanide is a game development studio, based in the western suburbs of Paris, France, with offices in Montreal, Canada and Chengdu, China. The studio was created in 2000 by 8 ex-UbiSoft employees and in 2007 has a headcount of 70...
has announced that they have partnered with Martin to create a video game adaption of the books, entitled A Game of Thrones: Genesis
A Game of Thrones: Genesis
A Game of Thrones: Genesis is a strategy video game developed by Cyanide. The game is an adaptation of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin and is the first such video game adaptation. A Game of Thrones: Genesis was published by Focus Home Interactive on PC...
. There are licensed full-sized sword and war hammer reproductions available; paintable white metal character miniatures; larger resin cast character busts; Westeros coinage reproductions; a forthcoming series of graphic novel adaptations of the "Ice and Fire" series; and a large number of gift and collectible items from HBO based on their cable television series.
TV series
The growing popularity of the series led to it being optioned by HBO for development of a television adaptation, Game of ThronesGame of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
, after the first novel
A Game of Thrones
A Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award, and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award...
. A pilot episode was produced in 2009 and a series commitment for nine further episodes was made in March 2010. The series premiered on April 17, 2011 to great acclaim and ratings, and two days later the network picked the show up for a second season. Shortly after the conclusion of the first season, the show received 13 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations, including Outstanding Drama and Outstanding Supporting Actor.
Translations
The "Ice and Fire" series has been translated into more than 20 languages.| Language | First translation published | Publisher | Translator | Translated titles | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgarian | 2001 | Бард | Валерий Русинов | Игра на Тронове, Сблъсък на Крале, Вихър от Мечове, Пир за Врани | ||
| Catalan | 2006 | Devir | Margarita Calpena i Ollé | Cançó de Foc i Glaç | ||
| Croatian | 2003 | Algoritam | Tajana Pavičević | Igra prijestolja, Sraz kraljeva, Oluja mačeva, Gozba vrana, Ples zmajeva | ||
| Czech | 2000 | Talpress | Hana Březáková | Hra o trůny, Střet králů, Bouře mečů, Hostina pro vrány | The Czech translation splits all books in halves, called 1 and 2, respectively. However, the 2011 edition of A Game of Thrones and "A Clash of Kings" has been released in a single volume, continuing with the others. | |
| Dutch | 1997 | Luitingh-Sijthoff | Renée Vink | Het spel der tronen (The Game of the Thrones) De strijd der koningen (The Battle of the Kings) Een storm van zwaarden (A Storm of Swords) Een feestmaal voor kraaien (A Feast for Crows) |
Only for the third book the translation was split in two, named Een storm van zwaarden 3A and 3B | |
| Estonian | 2006 | Varrak Varrak Varrak is an Estonian book publishing company founded in 1991, which quickly grew to one of the most popular book publishers in Estonia. It publishes both Estonian and translated works, including children's books, biographies, fiction and history books.... |
Mario Kivistik | Troonide mäng, esimene raamat, Troonide mäng, teine raamat, Kuningate heitlus, esimene raamat, Kuningate heitlus, teine raamat, Mõõkade maru, esimene osa: Teras ja lumi | All books so far are split in half and a new volume published yearly. | |
| Finnish | 2009 | Kirjava | Satu Hlinovsky | Valtaistuinpeli, Kuninkaiden koitos, Miekkamyrsky, Korppien kestit | There is also an illustrated version of the first two books. Images by Petri Hiltunen Petri Hiltunen Petri Hiltunen is a Finnish cartoonist and illustrator. Hiltunen has produced work in a variety of genres, but is most notable for his fantasy and horror work. He has won the prestigious Puupäähattu award in 2002, which is regarded as the highest honour for Finnish comic artists... . |
|
| French | 1998 | Pygmalion (Hardcover) J'ai lu (Paperback) |
Jean Sola (books 1–4) Patrick Marcel (book 5) |
Le Trône de fer, Le Donjon rouge, La Bataille des rois, L’Ombre maléfique, L’Invincible Forteresse, Les Brigands (hardcover) / Intrigues à Port-Réal (paperback), L’Épée de feu, Les Noces pourpres, La Loi du régicide, Le Chaos, Les Sables de Dorne, Un festin pour les corbeaux
|
The French translation splits the original books into two to four books each. Since 2008, these have been republished in a format that matches the structure of the originals. | |
| German | 1997 | blanvalet (Paperback) FanPro (Hardcover) |
Jörn Ingwersen | Paperback edition (since 1997): Die Herren von Winterfell (The Lords of Winterfell), Das Erbe von Winterfell (The Heir of Winterfell), Der Thron der Sieben Königreiche (The Throne of the Seven Kingdoms), Die Saat des goldenen Löwen (The Seed of the Golden Lion), Sturm der Schwerter (Storm of Swords), Die Königin der Drachen (Queen of the Dragons), Zeit der Krähen (Time of Crows), Die dunkle Königin (The Dark Queen) Hardcover edition (since 2004): Eisenthron (Iron Throne) |
Blanvalet's paperback edition splits each of the original books into halves. A limited hardcover edition retaining the books' original format and with a slightly modified translation has been published by FanPro since 2004. | |
| Hebrew | 1999 | Opus | Multiple | משחקי הכס, עימות המלכים, סופת החרבות, משתה לעורבים, מחול הדרקונים | Except for the first book, each of the translations was split into two. The first five books will have been translated by four translators: Idit Sorer (1), Yael Sela-Shapiro (2,4), Dudu Hanoch (3), Tzafrir Grossman (5) | |
| Hungarian | 2003 | Alexandra Könyvkiadó | Pétersz, Tamás (books 1–4) and Novák, Gábor (book 4) | "Trónok harca" (Game of Thrones); "Királyok csatája" (Clash of Kings); "Kardok vihara” (Storm of Swords); "Varjak lakomája" (Feast for Crows); "Sárkányok tánca" (Dance with Dragons) |
The Hungarian editions were first published in hardcover, later on, paperback editions were released. Dance with Dragons will be released in the autumn of 2011. The Hungarian editions are not split into pieces. | |
| Italian | 1999 | Mondadori | Sergio Altieri | Original edition: Il trono di spade, Il grande inverno, Il regno dei lupi, La regina dei draghi, Tempesta di spade, I fiumi della guerra, Il portale delle tenebre, Il dominio della regina, L'ombra della profezia Urania edition: Il gioco del trono, Lo scontro dei re, Tempesta di spade – Parte Prima, Tempesta di spade – Parte Seconda, Il banchetto dei corvi |
The Italian translation splits the original books into two to three books each. Since 2007, these have been republished in a format that matches the structure of the originals (except for A Storm of Swords, which is split in half) as part of the collection Urania – Le grandi saghe fantasy. | |
| Japanese | 2002 | Hayakawa (早川) | "七王国の玉座" (The Seven Kingdoms' Throne); "王狼たちの戦旗" (The Wolf-King's War Banner); "剣嵐の大地” (The Vast Land of the Sword-Storm); "乱鴉の饗宴" (The Crows' Feast) |
The Japanese editions are first published in hardcover, each English edition being split into two or three volumes. Later on, softcover editions are released, in even smaller editions—typically five volumes of about 200 pages or so. Only the first two volumes have been released in softcover to date. | ||
| Korean | 2000 | Eun Haeng Namu Publishing Co. (도서출판 은행나무) | "왕좌의 게임" (Game of Thrones); "왕들의 전쟁" (War of Kings); "성검의 폭풍” (Storm of Holy Swords); "까마귀의 향연" (Feast for Crows) |
|||
| Norwegian | 2011 | Vendetta forlag | Kjeld Hendrik Helland-Hansen and Thomas Ingebrigtsen Lem | "I vargens tid, Kampen om Jerntronen" (In the wolf's time, The fight for the Ironthrone) | "A Game of Thrones" is split into two books. | |
| Polish | 1998 | Zysk i S-ka | Paweł Kruk (1st vol.), Michał Jakuszewski (2nd-4th vol., revision of 2nd ed. of 1st vol.) | Gra o tron Starcie królów Nawałnica mieczy: Stal i Śnieg, Nawałnica mieczy: Krew i Złoto Uczta dla wron: Cienie Śmierci, Uczta dla wron: Sieć Spisków |
The Polish translation splits A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows into two books each. | |
| Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay.... |
2010 | Leya Leya Leya is a transnational book publishing company founded in 1977, based in Amadora, Portugal. Named Texto Editores until 2007, Leya has recently gained notoriety thanks to the acquisition of several other prominent publishing companies in Portugal.... |
Jorge Candeias | A Guerra dos Tronos, A Fúria dos Reis, A Tormenta de Espadas, O Festim dos Corvos | ||
| European Portuguese European Portuguese European Portuguese refers to the variety of Portuguese spoken in continental Portugal, as well as the Azores and Madeira islands... |
2007 | Saída de Emergência | Jorge Candeias | A Guerra dos Tronos, A Muralha de Gelo, A Fúria dos Reis, O Despertar da Magia, A Tormenta de Espadas, A Glória dos Traidores, O Festim de Corvos, O Mar de Ferro | The European Portuguese translation splits the original books into halves. | |
| Romanian | 2007 | Nemira | Silviu Genescu | Cantec de gheata si foc, Urzeala tronurilor, Inclestarea regilor, Iuresul sabilor, Festinul ciorilor | ||
| Russian | 1999 | AST | Yury Sokolov | 'Игра престолов, Битва королей, Буря мечей, Пир стервятников | Some editions split a book into 2 volumes, others do not. | |
| Serbian | 2003 | Лагуна | Никола Пајванчић | Игра престола, Судар краљева, Олуја мачева Део први: Челик и снег, Олуја мачева Део други: Крв и Злато, Гозба за вране Део први, Гозба за вране Део други | ||
| Simplified Chinese | 2005 | 谭光磊, 屈畅 | 重庆出版社 | 权力的游戏 (Game of Power); 列王的纷争 (Quarrel between Kings); 冰雨的风暴 (Storm of Hail and Rain); 群鸦的盛宴 (Feast for Crows); | The third book was split into three volumes, while the fourth into two. | |
| Slovene | 2007 | Mladinska Knjiga | Boštjan Gorenc | Igra prestolov, Spopad kraljev, Vihra mečev, Vranja gostija | ||
| Spanish | 2002 | Ediciones Gigamesh | Cristina Macía | Juego de tronos, Choque de reyes, Tormenta de espadas, Festín de cuervos | ||
| Swedish | 1997 | Forum bokförlag | Louise Thulin | I vargens tid (In the wolf's time) Kampen om järntronen (The fight for the Iron Throne) Kungarnas krig (War of the Kings) Svärdets makt (The Sword's Power) |
The original release split the first book in two. It was later released as one volume with the name Kampen om järntronen. Only the first three books of the series have been released. | |
| Turkish | 2005 | Arka Bahçe Yayıncılık | Nazım Akman | Turkish translation splits the original A Game Of Thrones into two books. | ||
| Turkish | 2011 | Epsilon Yayınevi | Sibel Alaş | Buz ve Ateşin Şarkısı I: Taht Oyunları | New Turkish edition | |
| Turkish | 2011 | Epsilon Yayınevi | Sibel Alaş | Buz ve Ateşin Şarkısı II: Kralların Çarpışması, Kısım I&II | Turkish translation splits the original A Clash of Kings into two books. |
External links
- George R. R. Martin's Official Website
- So Spake Martin, Collection of statements, correspondences and interviews by George R. R. Martin.