Jump to content

A Song of Ice and Fire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 67.184.132.39 (talk) at 03:52, 28 December 2007 (→‎Novels and novellas). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A Song of Ice and Fire (commonly abbreviated as ASoIaF) is a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. According to the author, the series will consist of seven novels.

File:2005 GoT cover.jpg
2005 US Edition of A Game of Thrones from Bantam
File:2005 CoK cover.jpg
2005 US Edition of A Clash of Kings from Bantam
File:A Storm of Swords.jpg
2005 US Edition of A Storm of Swords from Bantam
File:2005 FfC cover.jpg
2005 US Edition of A Feast for Crows from Bantam

Novels and novellas

Four of these novels have been completed and published:

The remaining three novels are provisionally titled:

  • A Dance with Dragons (no release date set)
  • The Winds of Winter
  • A Dream of Spring (formerly known as A Time for Wolves)

There are also two prequel novellas to the series, set roughly 90 years before the novels.

These short stories are commonly known as "Dunk and Egg" stories (after their protagonists). The Hedge Knight is also available as a graphic novel from Dabel Brothers Productions; an adaptation of The Sworn Sword is forthcoming from the same company. 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. Publication of a third "Dunk and Egg" novella is provisionally set for 2008 in an anthology named Warriors, which will be edited by Martin and Gardner Dozois.

The series has been placed as the number 2 rated series at the Internet Book List as of November 12th, 2007.[1] However, the Internet Book List does not include weighting based on the number of reviews given (833 for "A Song of Ice and Fire" vs. 77 for Ramayana-the #1 rated book as of 27 Dec 2007).

Plot summary

A Song of Ice and Fire is set primarily in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, a large, South America-sized continent with an ancient history stretching back some twelve thousand years, and where seasons can last for years. The original inhabitants of the land, the "children of the forest" (whose "old gods" are still worshipped in the North) were conquered by the First Men, who came from the east. Later, the Andals, who brought their seven-faced god across the narrow sea with them, arrived and conquered the southern portion of Westeros, though due to natural defenses they were never able to conquer the North. The six Andal kingdoms, Dorne excepted, were later united by Aegon Targaryen, called the Conqueror, who took the southern kingdoms by force, while King Torrhen Stark of the North bent the knee to Aegon rather than risk destruction under Aegon's dragons. Dorne was brought into the realm via dynastic marriage about a century later, giving rise to a united Westeros. 283 years after Aegon's conquest, the Targaryens were overthrown in a civil war, and King Robert Baratheon, backed primarily by his friend Lord Eddard Stark and foster father Lord Jon Arryn, took the Iron Throne. The novels, which begin fifteen years into Robert's reign, follow the fall-out from this event across three major storylines, set not only in Westeros but on the eastern continent as well.

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, but Robert's brother Stannis claims that Robert's children are illegitimate, and that the throne should fall to him. Robert's youngest brother, Renly, also places a claim with the support of the extremely powerful House Tyrell. Whilst these three 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 towards independence. This so-called War of the Five Kings is the principal storyline in the second and third novels, with its fall-out and repercussions affecting much of what follows.

The second storyline is set on the extreme northern border of Westeros. Here, eight thousand 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 semi-mythical race of ice creatures living in the uttermost north. The 300-mile-long, 700-foot-tall Wall is defended by the Sworn Brotherhood of the Night's Watch, which by the time of the novels is badly under-strength and threatened by the human 'wildlings' or 'free folk' who live to the north. This storyline follows Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark, as he rises through the ranks of the Watch and learns the true nature of the threat from the north. By the end of the third volume, this storyline has become entangled with the civil war to the south as well.

The third storyline is set on the huge eastern continent and follows the adventures of Daenerys Targaryen, the last (known) scion of House Targaryen and another claimant to the Iron Throne. Daenerys's adventures showcase her growing ability, as she rises from a near-penniless wanderer to a powerful and canny ruler who possesses the last living dragons. Though her story is separated from the others by many thousands of miles, her stated goal is to reclaim the Iron Throne, and it is presumed she will return to Westeros before the end of the series. She may be welcomed: though her name carries little weight in Westeros, the chaos of two civil wars in rapid succession has led to much yearning among the smallfolk for the days of stability under the Targaryens.

The eponymous Song of Ice and Fire is mentioned only once in the series, in a vision Daenerys sees in A Clash of Kings. In her vision, Daenerys see a Targaryen (her dead older brother Rhaegar Targaryen[3]) speaking of his son, saying, "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire". It is implied that there is a connection between this song, the promised prince, and Daenerys herself, who has been identified by her grand-uncle Aemon as the one to fulfill the prophecy (the Valyrian word "prince" is gender-neutral, just as their dragons are hermaphrodites). The phrase "ice and fire" is also mentioned in the Reeds' oath of loyalty to Bran in A Clash of Kings.

See also: List of characters in A Song of Ice and Fire

Historical and literary sources

Numerous parallels have been seen between the events and characters in A Song of Ice and Fire and events and people involved in the Wars of the Roses. Two of the principal families in A Song of Ice and Fire, the Starks and the Lannisters, are seen as representing the historical House of York and House of Lancaster, respectively.

A similar reality-inspired conflict is the succession struggle called the Dance of Dragons between two children Aegon II and Rhaenyra. A historical struggle (labeled The Anarchy) between Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and her cousin Stephen of Blois, provides the inspiration. Each daughter is announced as her father's successor, but due to differing reasons, male rivals seize the crown and are anointed as rulers. During the dynastic struggle, the rival claimants are deposed and succeeded by the son (Aegon III and Henry II of England respectively) of the original designated heir. Neither Empress Matilda nor Rhaenyra actually ruled in their own name.

Martin is an avid student of medieval Europe, and has said that the Wars of the Roses, along with many other events in Europe during that time, have influenced the series. However, he insists that "there's really no one-for-one character-for-character correspondence. I like to use history to flavor my fantasy, to add texture and verisimilitude, but simply rewriting history with the names changed has no appeal for me. I prefer to reimagine it all, and take it in new and unexpected directions." [2]

Martin has also said the Albigensian Crusades are an influence for the series.

Origins of the series

Although George RR Martin had long had a love of model knights and medieval history, his early novels and short stories mostly fit into the science fiction genre, although eventually several fantasy stories did appear, such as The Ice Dragon. 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, whilst 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 several pups, which are taken by the youngsters to raise as their own. Martin's imagination was fired by this idea and he developed it into an epic fantasy story, which he envisaged as a trilogy consisting of the books A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons and The Winds of Winter. Martin had previously apparently not been inspired by the genre, but reading Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series had convinced him it could be approached in a more adult and mature way than previous authors.

In 1992 he put the book to one side when one of his TV ideas was picked up by Hollywood, resulting in the production of a pilot called Doorways. The pilot was not successful and the series was not made.

In 1994 Martin resumed work on A Game of Thrones and completed it the following year, although he was only one-third of the way through his initial plan for the first novel. Martin then expanded the series to four books, and eventually to six. Publication of A Game of Thrones followed in early 1996. Pre-release publicity included publication of a 'sample novella' called Blood of the Dragon.

After expanding the series to four volumes, Martin remarked, "What can I say? It's a BIG story, and a cast of thousands." [3]

After A Storm of Swords was completed in 2000, Martin began writing A Dance with Dragons, the intended fourth volume which would pick up the story five years after the previous volume. Martin found it 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 and his 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, whilst the forthcoming A Dance with Dragons will contain the characters in the North, the Free Cities and in Slaver's Bay.

In a May 2005 statement, the author also said that this move now meant that the series would require seven volumes. Martin recognized that this decision could cause frustration among some of his fans. He wrote: "I know some of you 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." [4]

Despite the problems, A Feast for Crows was released in October 2005 and immediately won largely positive reviews. Time dubbed Martin, "The American Tolkien"[4], and the novel went straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

On January 24, 2006, Martin updated a statement on his personal site to note that he had completed 542 of an estimated 1200-1300 manuscript pages for the new book, A Dance with Dragons. In the same statement, he explains that while the fifth book will run in a parallel timeline with the fourth, there is nothing to stop the line from extending further; hinting that if room remains, he will include chapters for some of the characters left in a cliffhanger-state at the end of the previous novel. He rounds out his site update by stating, "And before anyone writes me asking, yes, there is a third Dunk and Egg novella in the works as well. It's maybe three-quarters done, and sometime soon I want to find the time to finish that one too." [5]

In a later update, Martin confirmed that the fifth book will be completed in early 2007 for publication in late 2007. He lost some time in writing the book due to a demanding appearances schedule and also due to home renovations. As of December 2007, the fifth book is still not complete, although Martin has cancelled several major commitments (including a book tour of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and possibly China) to bring the novel to completion.

TV adaptation

Variety reported on January 17, 2007 that the rights for A Song of Ice and Fire have been sold to HBO with the intent of turning the novels into a television series.[6] Written and executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the series is expected to cover one novel's worth of material per season. Martin plans to co-executive produce the series and is expected to write one episode per season. The series will be filmed in Europe or New Zealand.

Martin reported in August 2007 that the first draft of the script is complete[7] and stated in November that the script was approved and budgeting has begun. It should be noted, however, that the series has still not been officially greenlit, and the WGA strike could delay the process.[8]

Spin-offs

In addition to the novels and novellas, there are number of other products inspired by the series.

Some of the novels' chapters have appeared previously in collected form in other outlets.

  • Blood of the Dragon (Asimov’s, July 1996) based on the Daenerys chapters from A Game of Thrones. Received the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
  • Path of the Dragon (Asimov’s, December 2000) based on the Daenerys chapters from A Storm of Swords.
  • Arms of the Kraken (Dragon issue 305, August 2002) based on the Iron Islands chapters from A Feast for Crows.

A Game of Thrones collectible card game

Main article: A Game of Thrones collectible card game

This is a collectible card game (CCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games. A number of base sets have been released for the game, each with a number of expansions. The game's primary designer is Eric Lang and the lead developer is Nate French. The A Game of Thrones: Westeros Edition won the Origins Award for Best Trading Card Game of 2002. The Game of Thrones: Ice and Fire Edition won the Origins Award for Best Card Game Expansion or Supplement of 2003. It is an ongoing project consisting of five editions and eight expansions to date.

A Game of Thrones Board Game

Main article: A Game of Thrones (board game)

In 2003, Fantasy Flight Games released the A Game of Thrones strategy board game created by Christian T. Petersen. The Origins Award-winning game allows the players to take on the roles of several of the Great Houses vying for control of the Seven Kingdoms, including House Stark, House Lannister, House Baratheon, House Greyjoy, House Tyrell, and as of the expansion A Clash of Kings, House Martell. Players maneuver armies to secure support in the various regions that comprise the Seven Kingdoms, with the goal of capturing enough support to claim the Iron Throne. Two expansions for the game, A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords have been released.

A Game of Thrones Roleplaying Game

Main article: A Game of Thrones (role-playing game)

The A Game of Thrones Roleplaying Game (2005), created by the defunct Guardians of Order company and published by White Wolf, is a roleplaying game using the d20 and the Tri-Stat dX rules systems. The game consists of a single large, full-colour rulebook featuring information on role-playing in the Seven Kingdoms and also background information to the series not found in the novels, including a detailed map of the Seven Kingdoms. The game was very well-received and was nominated for several awards, but this was not enough to save its parent company from closure in July 2006.

On 28 July 2006 George R. R. Martin confirmed that he had received word from the head of Guardians of Order that the company was folding and that no further releases for the setting would take place. Martin expressed hope that the game might be salvaged by another company, and on 24 April 2007, Green Ronin Publishing announced they would be producing a new role-playing game entitled A Song of Ice and Fire.

The Art of Ice and Fire

This book, published in 2005 by Fantasy Flight Games, contains numerous works of art inspired by the series from a variety of different artists and illustrators. Some of the art previously appeared in the card game or on-line, but most of it was new.

Models and figures

Testor Corporation announced that in late 2006 it would begin releasing model figures based on the series, to be followed by a tactical wargame. Only one product shipped, a Ruby Ford diorama. In April 2007, Martin announced that the licensing agreement with Testor had expired, and Testor's A Song of Ice and Fire product lines had been canceled.[9] In December 2006, Haute Productions signed a deal to release a range of resin mini-busts featuring characters from A Song of Ice and Fire, under the name Valyrian Resin. The company plans to expand the line to include resin statues and pewter chess sets.[10] On August 13, 2007, Dark Sword Miniatures announced a line of premium pewter miniatures based on the world of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and sculpted by renowned miniatures artist Tom Meier.[11]

The World of Ice and Fire

A companion volume for the series, provisionally known as a 'world book', is in development by George R. R. Martin and co-authors Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson, although no publication date has been announced 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 roleplaying game. The companion volume was given the working title The World of Ice and Fire at the 2006 Worldcon, during a discussion between 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, possibly more. The book will also contain a large amount of artwork and will be published after A Dance with Dragons is released.[5] 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 [6].

Weapon replicas

On 20 March, 2007, George R. R. Martin announced on his blog[7] that he had "signed a deal with Jalic, Inc of East Lansing, Michigan, granting them a license to manufacture and sell full-sized high-quality replicas of the arms and armor from A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE", under the name Valyrian Steel, starting with the bastard sword Longclaw wielded by Jon Snow.

Pronunciation of names

Unlike J. R. R. Tolkien, who provided detailed instructions for the pronunciation of the languages of Middle-earth, Martin has provided no canonical way of pronouncing Westerosi names, stating "You can pronounce it however you like." [12] However, it is possible to establish some guidelines based on authorial chapter readings and question-and-answer sessions (marked "GRRM" in the following list), and the audio book adaptations read by Roy Dotrice ("RD") and John Lee ("JL"). Among the multimedia clips of the author speaking, RH indicates the Random House audio interview [13] and FF indicates the Fast Forward television interview.[14] Entries marked with a question mark (?) are probably the pronunciations of RD and/or JL.

The list uses International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols. See Help:pronunciation to learn about the symbols.

Characters

  • Areo Hotah GRRM-CBC /ˈɑrioʊ hoʊˈtɑː/, sometimes /ˈhoʊtɑː/
  • Arya GRRM-FF /ˈɑriə/, like English aria
  • Bran GRRM-FF /bræn/, like English bran
  • Brienne GRRM-RH /briːˈɛni/ RD, JL: /braɪˈiːn/
  • Caleotte GRRM-CBC: /ˈkælɪɒt/)
  • Catelyn (?: /ˈkætlɪn/)
  • Cersei GRRM-RH /ˈsɝseɪ/ RD ˈsɝsɪ/ JL /ˈsɪərseɪ/
  • Daenerys GRRM-RH /dəˈnɛrɪs/ (?: /deɪˈnɛərɪs/)
  • Dany GRRM-RH /ˈdæni/
  • Davos GRRM-RH /ˈdɑːvoʊs/
  • Doran GRRM-CBC /doʊˈræn/
  • Jaime GRRM-RH /ˈdʒeɪmi/ (?: /ˈdʒeɪmɪ/)
  • Jojen (?: /ˈdʒoʊdʒən/)
  • Jon GRRM-RH /dʒɑːn/, like English John
  • Lysa (?: /ˈlaɪsə/)
  • Petyr GRRM[15] /piːˈtɚ/, like English Peter (no, that would be /ˈpiːtɚ/ -- ed.) but RD: /pɪˈtaɪɚ/
  • Rickon GRRM-RH /ˈrɪkɒn/
  • Tommen GRRM-CBC, RD, JL /ˈtoʊmən/
  • Tyrion GRRM-RH, ? /ˈtɪriən/
  • Tywin (?: /ˈtaɪwɪn/)
  • Viserys (?: /vɪˈsɛərɪs/)

Houses and surnames

  • Baratheon (?: /bəˈrʌθɪən/)
  • Lannister GRRM-RH /ˈlænɪstɚ/
  • Stark GRRM-RH /stɑrk/, like English stark
  • Targaryen GRRM-RH /tɑrˈgɛriən/ (?: /tæˈgɛərɪən/)

Presumably, bastard names (like Snow and Rivers) are always pronounced like the corresponding common noun

Places

  • Asshai RD: /aˈʃaɪ/ JL: /ˈaʃaɪ/
  • Westeros GRRM-RH /ˈwɛstɚoʊs/

Titles

  • Khaleesi (?: /kəˈliːsɪ/)
  • Maester (?: /ˈmeɪstɚ/)
  • Ser (?: /sɝ/, like English sir)

Notes

  1. ^ list Internet book list rating ASOIAF, retrieved November 12th, 2007
  2. ^ So Spake Martin Report #1
  3. ^ Martin in post to Legends, October 6 1998. So Spake Martin – Posts to Legends (SSL)
  4. ^ Message on Martin's website, May 29 2005 It's Done!!!
  5. ^ Message on Martin's website, January 24 2006 Update
  6. ^ Variety Article - January 17 2007
  7. ^ Publishers Weekly interview - August 14 2007
  8. ^ Entertainment Weekly interview - November 2007
  9. ^ Martin, George R. R. (2007-04-17). "Testor's miniatures cancelled". George R. R. Martin's Official Website. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  10. ^ Martin, George R. R. (2006-12-06). ""Valyrian Resin" to produce Ice & Fire mini-busts". George R. R. Martin's Official Website. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  11. ^ "Dark Sword Miniatures and Tom Meier to produce George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire premium miniature line". Dark Sword Miniatures Website. 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  12. ^ So Spake Martin Report #107
  13. ^ Random House audio interview with GRRM. [1]
  14. ^ Fast Forward video interview with GRRM. [2]
  15. ^ GRRM at To Be Continued 4 (Chicago, IL), May 6–8, 2005 So Spake Martin Report #61
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire&oldid=180548379"