A Song of Ice and Fire

This article is about the series of novels. For the television adaptation, see Game of Thrones (TV series).

A Song of Ice and Fire

File:WikiFullASoIaFSizeEdit.JPG North American covers for the first five books
A Game of Thrones A Clash of Kings A Storm of Swords A Feast for Crows A Dance with Dragons The Winds of Winter A Dream of Spring
Author	George R. R. Martin
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	High fantasy, dark fantasy, medieval fantasy
Publisher	Bantam Books (USA, Canada) Voyager Books (UK, Australia)
Published	August 6, 1996–present
Media type	print (hardcover and paperback) audiobook

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 (the fifth was published on July 12, 2011); 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; Martin announced on his 2011 national book tour that the first four prequel novellas, his "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. One of these earlier excerpt novellas won science fiction's Hugo Award. The "Ice and Fire" series has been translated into more than 20 languages and 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.

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 cold and menacing supernatural Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East, both thought to be extinct by the humans of the story. There are three principal story lines in the series: 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. As the series progresses, the three story lines become increasingly interwoven and dependent upon each other.

The series is told in the third-person through the eyes of a number of point of view characters. By the end of the fourth volume, there have been 17 such characters with multiple chapters and eight who only have one chapter apiece. Several new viewpoint characters are introduced by the conclusion of the fifth volume, setting the stage for the major events of the sixth novel.

The growing popularity of the series led to it being optioned by HBO for development of a television adaptation, Game of Thrones, 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.

There are board games and role-playing games 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.

Background

The background to A Song of Ice and Fire is revealed through the lengthy appendices which follow each volume, with additional information revealed through the novellas, the text of the novels themselves and the role-playing game.

The narrative is set primarily in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, a large, South America–sized continent, with a history stretching back some twelve thousand years and where each of the seasons can last for years. The original inhabitants of the land were the Children of The Forest (whose old gods are still worshipped in the North), a diminutive race who lived in harmony with nature and employed powerful magic. The First Men, a civilization of primitive warriors wielding bronze weapons and riding horses, crossed over from Essos, the eastern continent, via a land bridge (destroyed in the resulting conflicts) and fought a series of wars against the Children, which ended with the Pact of the Isle of Faces, with the First Men taking control of the open lands and the Children remaining in the forests.

The Pact was weakened after four thousand years by the emergence of the Others, an enigmatic race from the furthermost north, who swept south into Westeros and caused great death and destruction, bringing about a night that lasted a generation and a winter that lasted decades. In the War for the Dawn, the Others were thrown back by the First Men and the Children of The Forest, and a vast wall of ice was raised from one coast of Northern Westeros to the other to bar their passage south should they come again. In the following centuries the Children gradually disappeared, and it was presumed that they left Westeros or became extinct.

Approximately two thousand years after the War for the Dawn, the Andals crossed the Narrow Sea from the eastern continent. The Andals wielded iron weapons, had tamed horses to use in battle and brought with them the Faith of the Seven. They landed in the Vale of Arryn and over the course of several millennia subjugated the southern kingdoms. However, they could not take the North due to its natural defenses. Over time six great and powerful kingdoms were forged across Westeros: the Kingdom of the North, the Kingdom of the Iron Islands, the Kingdom of Vale and Sky, the Kingdom of the Rock, the Kingdom of the Storm Kings and the Kingdom of the Reach. A seventh kingdom—that of the Riverlands—was repeatedly conquered by its neighbors and eventually destroyed altogether, while the small desert kingdoms in the far south of Westeros were divided by constant war. One thousand years prior to the events of the novels, a great host of refugees from the region of the River Rhoyne on the eastern continent—displaced by the growing power of a distant empire called Valyria—crossed the Narrow Sea under the warrior-queen Nymeria and landed in the southern-most part of Westeros. The Rhoynar allied with the native Lord Mors Martell and conquered the southern peninsula of Dorne, forging another powerful kingdom by that name.

Five centuries later, the expanding Valyrian Freehold had reached the east coast of the Narrow Sea and established links with Westeros, using the island of Dragonstone as a trading port. However, a century later the Valyrian Freehold was destroyed by a titanic disaster known as the Doom. The Valyrian family that controlled Dragonstone, the Targaryens, spent a further century in preparing their forces, and then launched a devastating invasion of Westeros under Aegon the Conqueror. Although their forces were small, they had with them the last three dragons in the western world and they were able to use these to overtake the continent. Six of the Seven Kingdoms were conquered in this initial war, but Dorne resisted so fiercely that Aegon agreed to let them remain independent. The Targaryens adopted the native Faith of the Seven (although they still married brother to sister in the ancient Valyrian tradition in defiance of the Faith's teachings) and Westerosi customs, and within a few decades had crushed all resistance to their rule. Dorne was eventually absorbed through marriage-alliance. The last dragons died out a century and a half into the Targaryen rule, but by this time they had become the ruling power on the continent and their rule was not challenged.

Fifteen years prior to the beginning of the novels, the Targaryens were displaced from power in a civil war brought about by the insanity and cruelty of King Aerys II (called "the Mad King"). Lyanna Stark, daughter of Lord Rickard Stark of the North and fiancee of Robert Baratheon, usurper to the throne of the Storm Kingdom, disappeared with Aerys's son Prince Rhaegar. The Starks and Baratheons treated her disappearance as an abduction, and Lord Rickard's eldest son Brandon went to King's Landing with a band of young knights to demand single combat with Rhaegar. Aerys had them arrested and ordered their fathers to come to King's Landing to answer for them. When Lord Rickard arrived, Aerys had him burned alive while he watched his son, Brandon, strangle himself to death trying to save his father. An alliance of houses under the leadership of Robert Baratheon, Jon Arryn, and Eddard Stark successfully destroyed the Targaryen armies at the Trident. However, Tywin Lannister who had remained neutral until then went on to sack King's Landing and kill King Aerys's heirs and wipe out all of the line, aside from Aerys's pregnant wife and his eight-year-old son Viserys, who fled to Dragonstone. King Aerys himself was killed by Jaime Lannister, his own bodyguard, who since then has been nicknamed the Kingslayer. Aerys's wife died giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen, who was taken to safety in the Free Cities beyond the Narrow Sea along with her brother by loyal retainers. In the meantime, Robert Baratheon took the Iron Throne and married Cersei Lannister to secure the Lannisters as allies.

Synopsis

Further information: Major houses in A Song of Ice and Fire

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 (480 km) long and 700 feet (210 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 fiction 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.

Influences

With regard to content, major differences exist between the series and much of the high fantasy genre, but the series' structure has much in common with The Lord of the Rings.

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."

Martin has acknowledged his debt to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Vance and Tad Williams, but 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.

Publication history

All page totals given below are for the US paperback edition and hardcover 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	807 (704 hardcover)	73	33h 53m	August 1996
2.	A Clash of Kings	969 (784 hardcover)	70	37h 17m	November 1998
3.	A Storm of Swords	1128 (992 hardcover)	82	47h 37m	August 2000
4.	A Feast for Crows	976 (784 hardcover)	46	31h 10m	October 2005
5.	A Dance with Dragons	(959 hardcover)	73	48h 56m	July 2011
6.	The Winds of Winter	(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, 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.

Supplementary works

There are also three novellas based on chapter sets from the books:

• Blood of the Dragon is a novella taken from the Daenerys chapters in A Game of Thrones. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1997.
• Path of the Dragon is a second novella based on the Daenerys chapters, this time taken from A Storm of Swords.
• Arms of the Kraken is a novella based on the Iron Islands chapters from A Feast for Crows.

There are also three separate novellas set in the same world, known as the "Tales of Dunk and Egg" after the main protagonists. They 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 (1998)
• The Sworn Sword (2003)
• The Mystery Knight (2010)

The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword are also both available as graphic novels 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.

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.

Translations

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	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.
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) Königsfehde (King-Feud) Schwertgewitter (Swordstorm) Krähenfest (Crowfeast)	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	2010	Leya	Jorge Candeias	A Guerra dos Tronos, A Fúria dos Reis, A Tormenta de Espadas, O Festim dos Corvos
European Portuguese	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	Buz ve Ateşin Şarkısı Taht Oyunları 1. Kitap, Buz ve Ateşin Şarkısı Taht Oyunları 2. Kitap	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.

Reception

• A Game of Thrones (1996) - Locus Award winner, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards nominee, 1997
• A Clash of Kings (1998) - Locus Award winner, Nebula Award nominee, 1999
• A Storm of Swords (2000) - Locus Award winner, Hugo and Nebula Awards nominee, 2001
• A Feast for Crows (2005) - Hugo, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 2006

Derived works

Main article: Works based on A Song of Ice and Fire

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. It has also inspired musicians, food bloggers and an upcoming parody of A Game of Thrones.

External links

• George R. R. Martin's Official Website
• So Spake Martin, Collection of statements, correspondences and interviews by George R. R. Martin.
• Template:Dmoz