Creator of the epic fantasy series that inspired Game of Thrones: Who is George RR Martin?

The series, which is watched in more than 170 countries and is the most illegally downloaded series in the world, has won the passionate admiration of many people from various profiles.

George RR Martin is an American author known for his novels on science fiction, horror, and fantasy. He attracted attention with his A Song Of Ice And Fire novel series, which is the author's most popular and best-selling novel. The Game of Thrones series, adapted from this novel, has received great acclaim and has been followed with great interest around the world. The author was listed among the hundred most influential people of 2011 by Time magazine and had the opportunity to be recognized by a wide audience.

George Martin was born in 1948 in New Jersey, USA. His full name is George Raymond Richard Martin. He received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1970 and completed his master's degree in the same department. The author, who has been a comic book fan since his childhood, is actually known as a comic book collector. The author, who was very interested in writing monster stories at a young age, published a short story about military science fiction in the February issue of Galaxy magazine in 1971 when he was 21 years old.

George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which were adapted into the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2019) and its prequel series House of the Dragon (2022–present). He also helped create the Wild Cards anthology series, and contributed worldbuilding for the 2022 video game Elden Ring.

Since 1980, he started writing for television and is known to have worked as a book editor. In 1986, he became the story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television. He produced the projects Beauty and the Beast (1988) and Doorways (1994). In 1996, he published the first book of the Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Game of Thrones. He made a name for himself with this published book series. Although the author works on horror, he has also written many stories in the field of science fiction.

How Many Books Does George RR Martin Have?

It is known that the author has written more than 50 works since his short story, which he first wrote in the science fiction genre in a magazine in 1971, until today. His works are generally in the genre of stories and novels. In addition, the author also has works of this type due to his interest in comics, which started at a young age.

What is the Name of George RR Martin's Latest Book?

The author's last novel is The Rise Of The Dragon, published in 2022, after the last volume of the Game Of Thrones novel series.

1. Martin is a True Comic Book Enthusiast

George RR Martin was a voracious comic book fan and grew up with a love for Marvel stories like The Fantastic Four and The Avengers. Still, an avid comic book reader, the author, then a student at Marist Catholic Preparatory High School, sent impassioned letters to Stan Soapbox, as many comic book fans did.

2. He lived a life of near isolation

As the creator of one of the richest worlds in modern literature, you might think that Martin was a traveler and saw many parts of the world. But in fact, the author had a rather modest upbringing in Bayonne County, New Jersey. As the son of a dock worker, he watched the ships by the water. He spent his childhood dreaming of becoming a sailing explorer or an astronaut.

He started writing at a young age and was selling monster stories to other kids in his neighborhood. However, his storytelling attempt was prevented by the families of the children who started having nightmares because of the monsters. George Martin, who spent most of his life between school and home, became a voracious reader. His longing for travel helped his strong imagination transcend borders and explore lands far from his own world.

3. He Used His Right to Conscientious Objection in the Vietnam War

George Martin always had deep dilemmas when it came to war. He used his right of conscientious objection because he did not want to participate in the Vietnam War as a soldier. Instead, he served 2 years of alternative service with the Cook County Legal Aid Foundation from 1973 to 1976.

He was against the idea of glorifying war, and that's why he wrote war scenes so harshly in his novels.

4. His Grief as a Writer Nearly Cost Him His Career

In fact, long before Game of Thrones, George Martin was an award-winning writer of science fiction and horror literature. Martin's fourth book, The Armageddon Rag (1983), was an unexpected commercial failure. The book, which was jointly published many times by Poseidon and Nemo publishing houses, was in the mystery-fantasy genre. Although it was nominated for the Locus and World Fantasy awards, it was a commercial flop.

The failure of this project devastated the author so much that Martin began writing less.

5. Writing for Television Made Him Unhappy

After the disappointment in The Armageddon Rag, Martin moved away from his identity as a novelist and started writing for television and cinema productions. He has written for numerous television projects such as Beauty and the Beast, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits.

George Martin, who found financial stability here, was not satisfied artistically this time, and he was deeply saddened by the fact that many of his beloved works did not see the light of day.

6. He Has a Library “Tower”

In 2009, he bought a house in Santa Fe - on his street - and wanted to build a tower-shaped library. This also serves as office space. Unfortunately, the municipality did not give him a building permit for more than two floors. Martin, who included the works of writers he supported and loved in addition to his own books in the library, became a serious supporter of art in his district.

7. He Has a Magnificent Cinema in New Mexico

George Martin is quite an entrepreneur in the field of culture and arts in Santa Fe, where he lives. Because, in addition to the library, he also owns a small cinema called The Jean Cocteau Cinema.

The Jean Cocteau Cinema was founded in 1976 as the Kolektif Fantasy cinema. Named after French director and artist Jean Cocteau in 1983, the cinema was first purchased by Brent Kliewer. It changed hands several times and was sold for the last time in 2010 when it was acquired by George Martin. Later, some changes were made here. After many renovations, Martin reopened the cinema in 2013.

This cinema has become a place that supports not only independent films but also independent artists in many different fields.

8. Martin is a True Sports Enthusiast

Although many fans don't know, the author is a very obsessive sports fan. American football is something Martin is so passionate about that he is known to watch all NFL pre-leagues.

9. There Would Be No Game of Thrones Without Chess

In his early 20s, George Martin organized a chess tournament to pay his bills. This event owed its expected impact to Bobby Fischer's popularity. In the early 70s, American chess prodigy Fischer defeated Boris Spassky in the World Chess Championship. The popularity of chess thus reached its peak in the United States.