Game of Thrones A-Z by Martin Howden Read Free Book Online Page B

take precedence.
    Author Martin agreed, saying, ‘If you look at  The Lord of   the Rings , although Middle Earth is suffused with a great feel of magic, there is very little onstage. Gandalf doesn’t shoot lightning bolts from his fingers. If it’s on every page, then magic loses its magic.’
    Another huge fantasy influence was  The Wheel of Time  –an epic book series that gave the fantasy literary genre a bolt of energy. It was planned to be only six novels but, as Martin knows only so well, it had to be extended. There will be 14 books in the series, excluding companion and prequel novels. Robert Jordan, real name Jim Rigney, began writing the first instalment in 1984, and it was published six years later.
    The reason fans are so obsessed with Martin’s mortality is that Jordan died in 2007 as he was working on the final book. Luckily, he had planned in advance for such a morbid scenario, and had provided extensive notes for another author to finish his work. To read more about fans’ obsession with Martin’s mortality, read the section ‘  A Song   of Ice and Fire ’.
    Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson was assigned the task, and the final book would eventually be made into a trilogy. Selling nearly 50 million copies worldwide, the mammoth book series focuses on the Dark One, the embodiment of pure evil, as he escapes from his prison.
    One man learns that he is the Messiah, and must do everything he can, no matter the price, to destroy the Dark One.
    Robert Jordan was someone that Martin not only admired but also counted as a friend, saying, ‘He gave me a blurb when my series was starting out, an endorsement for the cover that got me a lot of readers. And his own work really made my series possible. Jordan essentially broke the trilogy template that Tolkien helped set up. He showed us how to do a book that’s bigger than a trilogy. I don’t think my series would’ve been possible without  The Wheel of   Time being as successful as it was. I’ve always wanted to sprawl, and Jordan, to a great extent, made that possible with his series.’
    When Jordan died, Martin wrote the following words on his blog:
    The world of high fantasy is poorer today. James Rigney, better known to fantasy readers as Robert Jordan, has passed away. Although he had been fighting amyloidosis for several years, the news of his death still came as a shock to many, including me. He was so optimistic and determined that you had to think that if anyone could beat the disease, it would be him. Jim was a good and gracious man, a pleasure to share a platform or a pint with, and his contributions to modern fantasy were many. His huge, ambitious  Wheel of Time  series helped to redefine the genre, and opened many doors for the writers who followed.
    He was also unfailingly generous towards other fantasists, always ready to offer them support and encouragement. My own  Ice & Fire series might never have found its audience without the cover quote that Jim was so kind as to provide, back when  A Game of   Thrones  was first published. I will always be grateful to him for that.
    G
    GARY LIGHTBODY
    Gary Lightbody is the lead singer of the British alternative rock band Snow Patrol and is a huge fan of the series. So the singer was delighted when he filmed a small cameo for season three.
    Dressed in medieval gear, he took to the band’s Facebook page to share a photo of himself on set. He wrote, ‘So I did my scene this morning for  Game of Thrones . I looked like this. Can’t say much, just it’s no pivotal role. Fun!’
    The Irish singer regularly hangs out with some of the cast when they film in Belfast and even has Twitter conversations with fans of the show. Gary has been a member of Snow Patrol since 1994, and they have had two massive hit songs: ‘Run’, which was covered by Leona Lewis, whose version reached number one in the UK charts, and ‘Chasing Cars’.
    GEORGE R. R. MARTIN
    Ironically, George Raymond Richard