Themes in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Song of Ice and Fire is an ongoing series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. The first installment of the originally planned trilogy was published in 1996. The series now consists of five published volumes; a further two are planned. The series is told in the third-person through the eyes of a number of point of view characters. A television adaptation entitled Game of Thrones began airing in 2011.
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. The three main story lines 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 15 years earlier in another civil war, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne.
The series and its TV adaptation receive the most critical response to its themes of magic and realism, politics and society, moral ambiguity of the characters, violence and death, sexuality, feminism, religion, and food.
Magic and realism
Wrestling over the amount of magic to include in A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin initially considered writing an alternative historical novel without any magic before opting for one of the most magical alternatives. However, he believes in judicious use of magic in the epic fantasy genre, where magic is kept subtle and the readers' sense of it growing. He also believes that literary effective magic needs to represent strange and dangerous forces beyond human's comprehension, not advanced alien technologies or formulaic spells. Magic needs to be magical by definition, not by its frequent display of power. He therefore avoided overt fantasy elements in the story. The amount of magic gradually increases from the start, but the series is to end with less overt magic than many other fantasies have.
Since all fiction is essentially untrue, Martin believes it needs to reflect reality at least in its core. He agrees with William Faulkner's statement in his Nobel Prize speech that "the human heart in conflict with itself" is the only thing worth writing about, regardless of the genre. He thus tried to give the story a little more historical fiction feel than a fantastic feel like previous authors' books, with less emphasis on magic and sorcery and more emphasis on swordplay and battles and political intrigue. The Atlantic noted that the series attempts to mash together fantasy and realism as two seemingly contradictory genres of literature, and Martin's books are generally praised for their realism. The Atlantic saw the realist heart of the Ice and Fire books in that "magic lingers only on the periphery of the world in which the characters dwell, and is something more terrifying than wondrous. [...] It's a fantasy story that defies expectations by ultimately being less about a world we'd like to escape, at times becoming uncomfortably familiar to the one we live in."
The unresolved larger narrative arc of Ice and Fire encourages speculation about future story events. According to Martin, much of the key to Ice and Fire's … story future lies sixteen years in the fictional past of which each volume reveals more. Events planned from the beginning are foreshadowed, although Martin heeds story developments to not be predictable. The viewpoint characters, who serve as unreliable narratorss, may clarify or provide different perspectives on past events. What the readers believe to be true may therefore not necessarily be true.
Martin realized fantasy in Ice and Fire in the shown imaginary places in avoidance of overt fantasy elements. He set the Ice and Fire story in an alternate world of Earth or a "secondary world", which Tolkien pioneered with Middle Earth. The story takes place primarily on a continent called Westeros, but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos. The style varies to fit each character and their setting; Daenerys's exotic realm may appear more colorful and fanciful than Westeros, which is more based on the familiar medieval history of Europe. Martin was intentionally vague with the size of the Ice and Fire world, omitting a scale on the maps to discourage prediction of travel lengths based on measured distances. The continent of Westeros may be considered of the size of South America though. Complete world maps are deliberately not made available so that readers may better identify with people of the real Middle Ages who were unillumined about distant places. As each new book has added one or two maps, readers may be able to piece together a world map by the end of the series.
The history of the world stretches back some twelve thousand years. The Ice and Fire story can be considered to be set in a post-magic world where people do not believe in dragons and the Others anymore. The characters understand only the natural aspects of their world, but the magical elements like the Others are not within their understanding. Coming from an impoverished family background of former wealth, Martin always felt attracted to stories of fallen civilizations and lost empires; Tolkien's Middle Earth was also in decline with the abandoned Mines of Moria and the elves' leaving. The lost empire of Valyria in Ice and Fire was once a high civilization similar to Rome before the Dark Ages. These elements may give the story a poignant sadness. The Wall, which Martin believes to be unique in fantasy, was inspired by Martin's visit to Hadrian's Wall in the North of England close to the border with Scotland. Looking out over the hills, Martin wondered what a Roman centurion from the Mediterranean would feel, not knowing what threats might come from the north. The size, length and magical powers of the wall were adjusted for genre demands.
One of the most conspicuous aspects of the world of Westeros is the long and random nature of the seasons. Fans have developed lengthy scientific theories for the seasons, but Martin insists there is a supernatural fantasy explanation instead of a scientific one. Martin rather enjoyed the symbolism of the seasons, with summer as a time of growth and plenty and joy and winter is a dark time where you have to struggle for survival.
The world of A Song of Ice and Fire is primarily populated by humans, although giants, the so-called "Others" and the children of the forest appear as other sentient species in the extreme North of Westeros, beyond the Wall. In addition to ordinary animals such as dogs, cats, and horses, some species of animals inhabiting Martin's world are similar to real-world Pleistocene megafauna such as aurochs, direwolves, and mammoths. Of these megafauna, only aurochs are commonly encountered throughout Westeros, as a domesticated herd animal. Direwolves and mammoths are only found in the Lands Beyond the Wall in the extreme north. The direwolves adopted by the Stark children exhibit signs of being far more intelligent than common dogs or wolves. Each wolf pup grows to reflect the temperament of the child they bond with, a trait reputed in folklore to be common among direwolves raised from puppies by humans. Dragons and kraken appear as legendary animals.
The dragons in the story are scaled, fire-spewing, reptilian creatures with animal-level intelligence. Though some accompanying artwork for A Song of Ice and Fire portrays them with four legs and a detached set of wings, George R.R. Martin insists that this is incorrect. He applied as much rationalism as possible during their design so that the dragons can actually hold their weight in the air. Therefore, his dragons are more serpentine and slender than what other artists imagine, and they have four (not six) extremities, of which two are the front wings. Also, Martin first considered having the Targaryens use a pyrotechnic smoke-and-mirrors approach to feign dragon powers, but decided to go with "real" dragons instead. Martin never wanted to do talking dragons because he wanted them to differ from humans. Martin sees the dragons as the nuclear deterrent, making Daenerys as the sole owner the most powerful person in the world. Comparing the situation to modern-day states with nuclear arsenals, Martin tries to explore whether weaponry power not only bestows the power to destroy, but also to reform, improve, or build.
Politics and society
The Daily News found the story focus "more on Machiavellian political intrigue than Tolkien-esque sword and sorcery". Since Martin drew on historical sources to build the Ice and Fire world, The Guardian saw a startling resemblance between Westeros and England in the period of the Wars of the Roses, where "One throne unifies the land but great houses fight over who will sit upon it. With no true king the land is beset with corrupt, money-grubbing lords whose only interest is their own prestige. Two loose alliances of power pit a poor but honourable North against a rich and cunning South. And the small folk must suffer through it all, regardless of which side wins." Like in the Middle Ages, the characters define their alliances by their home towns or kinship, not by modern-day concepts like countries or nationalism. The king was seen as an avatar of god so that the legitimacy of kingship was very important. Martin wanted to show the possible consequences of the leaders' decisions, as general goodness does not automatically make competent leaders and vice versa.
The Atlantic regarded A Song of Ice and Fire as "more a story of politics than one of heroism, a story about humanity wrestling with its baser obsessions than fulfilling its glorious potential" where the emergent power struggle stems from the feudal system's repression and not from the fight between good and evil (see section #Moral ambiguity). The Guardian saw Martin's strength in "his compendious understanding of the human stories driving the grand political narrative. There does not seem to be a single living soul in the land of Westeros that Martin does not have insight into, from the highest king to the lowest petty thief. [...] It is a world of high stakes, where the winners prosper and the losers are mercilessly ground under heel. Against this tapestry every one of Martin's characters is forced to chose between their love for those close to them and the greater interests of honour, duty and the realm. More often than not, those who make the noble choice pay with their lives."
The novels are to reflect the frictions of the medieval class structures, where people were brought up to know the duties and privileges of their class. Martin also explores in how far birth and social class, or values and memories make up people's identity. Among the characters losing their names and very identities are Arya Stark and Theon Greyjoy; Arya goes through several different identities before joining the Faceless Men with the ultimate goal to become no-one so as to be able to freely assume other identities. On the other hand, Quentyn Martell and his companions deliberately mask their identity by assuming false names, although it never really affects who they are in private.
A common theme in the fantasy genre is the battle between good and evil, although Martin deliberately defied the conventions and assumptions of neo-Tolkienian Fantasy. Whereas The Lord of The Rings had succeeded with externalizing villainousness through ugly black clothes, Martin felt that Tolkien's imitators oversimplified the struggle between good and evil into stereotypical clichés. William Faulkner's 1950 Nobel Prize speech rather serves as a paradigm for Martin's writing; Faulkner said that only the human heart in conflict with itself was worth writing about. Just like people's capacity for good and for evil in real life, Martin explores the questions of redemption and character change in the Ice and Fire series. The New Yorker summarized that "Characters who initially seem likable commit reprehensible acts, and apparent villains become sympathetic over time", and The Atlantic said that even the TV adaptation "does not present the viewer with a easily identifiable hero, but with an ensemble of characters with sometimes sympathetic, often imperfect motives".
Attracted to gray characters instead of orcs and angels, Martin regards the hero as the villain on the other side. The Wall's [Night's Watch]], whom Martin described as "criminal scum [who] are also heroes and they wear black", was a deliberate twist on fantasy stereotypes. As any universally adored or hated fictional characters are too one-dimensional to present real life, Martin writes his characters with well-mixed natures so that readers will invest in and identify with them. The actions and politics in the novels leave it to the reader to decide about who is good and evil. Characters are explored from many sides through the multiple viewpoint structure so that, unlike in a lot of other fantasy, also the supposed villains can provide their viewpoint. This is necessary since in the real-world throughout history, all human beings justify their deeds as the right thing and the opponent's as the villain. It may not always be easy to determine who represents the good and evil side in real life, as some of the darkest villains in history had some good things about them, the greatest heroes had weaknesses and flaws. However, according to Martin, Tyrion Lannister is the most morally neutral main character in the book, which, along with his cynicism, is what makes him is favorite character.
Violence and death
The New York Times praised Martin as "unapologetically coldblooded", saying the book series was no children's literature with "a boy being thrown off a balcony, a woman having her face bitten off, a man having his nose cut off, a girl having her ear sliced off, multiple rapes, multiple massacres, multiple snarfings of people by animals [and] multiple beheadings". Entertainment Weekly saw Martin's ruthlessness about killing beloved characters as a hallmark of the series, leading "fans to throw their books across the room — only to go pick them up again". The Washington Post said that the characters' vulnerability and possibly impending death "lends a welcome sense of uncertainty to the proceedings and helps keep the level of suspense consistently high throughout".
Although fantasy comes from an imaginative realm, Martin sees an honest necessity to reflect the real world where people die sometimes ugly deaths, even beloved people. The deaths of supernumerary extras or orcs have no major effect on readers, whereas a friend's death has much more emotional impact. Martin kills off main character because he finds it really irritating to know early in the story who as the hero will come through unscathed. Martin dislikes this lack of realism, comparing the situation to a soldier scared the night before a battle. Martin wants his readers to feel that fear that no one is safe as they turn the page. Martin, who credits Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings with inspiring him to stun readers with character deaths, prefers a hero's sacrifice to say something profound about human nature, and points readers not wanting to get upset or disturbed to the plenty of books for comfort reading.
When picking characters to die in battle scenes, Martin chooses secondary or tertiary characters from the character lists without giving much thought, as he sees these characters as hardly developed and in some cases just as names. However, the death and time of death of many major characters have been planned from the beginning, although these scenes may not always be easy to write. A wedding sequence called the "Red Wedding", which occurs about two thirds through A Storm of Swords and leaves several major characters dead, was the hardest scene Martin had ever written. He repeatedly skipped writing the chapter and eventually wrote it last for A Storm of Swords. Readership response ranged from praise to capitulation, but Martin said the chapter "was painful to write, it should be painful to read, it should be a scene that rips your heart out, and fills you with terror and grief."
War is central to a lot of fantasy, going back to Tolkien and beyond, but in most modern fantasy, it is very much the good guys fighting the bad guys. The wars in the novels are much more morally complex than a fight between good and evil. The novels are to reflect that wars have substantial death rates. The novels' attitude toward war is shaped by Martin's experiences with the controversies of the Vietnam War. Being against the Vietnam War, the books reflect some of Martin's views on war and violence and their costs. However, he hates to think that the voice of the author comes through like in the Barefoot Septon's anti-war speech in A Feast for Crows, as he wants to remain an invisible puppeteer.
Among the plot twists are the death of apparently crucial characters and the reappearances of believed-to-be dead characters. However, The Atlantic said that Martin's penchant for unpredictability may make the reader grow increasingly skeptical of apparent deaths, alluding to Jon Snow's fate in A Dance with Dragons.Martin believes that bringing back a dead character necessitates a transformative experience of the character. The body may be moving, but some aspect of the spirit is changed or lost. Martin never liked Gandalf the Grey's return as Gandalf the White in The Lord of the Rings, believing it to have been an even stronger story if Tolkien had left him dead. One of the characters who has come back repeatedly from death is Beric Dondarrion, The Lightning Lord, and what has happened with him echoes with some of the other revived characters. Bits of his humanity and his past lives are lost every time he comes back from death, his flesh is falling away from him, but he remembers the mission he was sent to do before death.
The fantasy genre rarely focuses on sex and sexuality as much as the Ice and Fire books do, often treating sexuality in a juvenile way or neglecting it completely in Martin's eyes. Even Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings abstracts away from featuring women, sex or romantic love. Considering sexuality an important driving force in human life that should not be excluded from the narrative, Martin equipped many of the Ice and Fire characters with a sex drive to make the books truer. Martin was also fascinated by medieval contrasts where knights venerated their ladies with poems and wore their favors in tournaments while their armies mindlessly raped women in wartime.
The inexistent concept of adolescence in the Middle Ages served as a model for Daenerys's sexual activity at the age of 13 in the books. Many high-born women were married at or below that age because the onset of sexual maturity turned children into full adults. With the Targaryens, the novels also allude to the incestuous practices in the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the European monarchies to keep their bloodlines pure. However, Martin also saw a sociopathic element in the incestuous relationship of the twins Cersei and Jaime Lannister, whose strong bonding inhibits their pairing with others whom they regard as inferior.
Martin aims to let the readers experience the novels' sex scenes, "whether it's a great transcendent, exciting, mind blowing sex, or whether it's disturbing, twisted, dark sex, or disappointing perfunctory sex". However, he blamed the American puritanical attitudes towards sex for some readers' offense with the novels' sex scenes. Martin believes only a strong double standard can explain the lack of objections to an axe going through someone's head, while a penis going into a vagina causes aversion. Accusing the novels of gratuitous sex is inseparable to accusing them of gratuitous violence, feasting or heraldry, as neither advance the plot. Providing sensory detail for an immersive experience is more important than plot advancement for Martin.
Because of child pornography laws, the television adaptation was forced to either extenuate the sex scenes for the younger characters or age up all characters. HBO valued the sex scenes so much to opt for the latter, adding some sex scenes to the TV series while leaving out others from the books. The premiere of Game of Thrones was followed by many debates about the depiction of sex, rape, and female agency in the franchise. USA Today's assessment that HBO added "so many buxom, naked prostitutes that TV's Westeros makes Vegas look like a convent" earned Martin's reply that there were many brothels in the Middle Ages. Amber Taylor of The Atlantic saw the depiction of sex as one of the show's most distinctive aspects, "cheesy only insofar as sex is fundamentally absurd". Despite HBO's freedom to titillate viewers with sex and nudity, none of the show's sex scenes felt superfluous for her; some of Daenerys's TV scenes "make her vulnerability more real than any political exposition". Taylor also lauded HBO's "admirable choice [...] that its nonconsensual sex scenes are deeply unarousing, in marked contrast with shows on other networks that use a historical setting as window dressing for prurient depictions of rape". Some critics also analyzed sexuality in the light of women's powers (see section #Feminism).
Martin provides a variety of female characters to explore some of the ramifications of the novels being set in a patriarchal society. Writing all characters as human beings with the same basic needs, dreams and influences, his female characters are to cover the same wide spectrum of human traits like the males. Martin can identify with all point-of-view characters in the writing process despite significant differences to him, be it gender or age. He sees himself neither as misogynistic or a paragon of feminism, although he acknowledged that some values inoculated with in childhood can never be fully abandoned, even those consciously rejected. He appreciates the discussions whether the series is feminist or anti-feminist, and is very gratified of the many female readers and how much they like at least some of the female characters. He does not presume to make feminist statements in either way though.
The Atlantic noted that Daenerys and Queen Cersei share the parallels of being forced into marriage, having strong strengths of will, and being utterly ruthless toward their enemies. As bloodline and succession are the quickest and surest way to assert strength in Westeros, Cersei takes advantage of motherhood by procreating with her brother Jaime, thereby leaving her hated husband Robert without a true heir in revenge. Martin said that Cersei's walk of public penitence in A Dance with Dragons may be read as misogynistic or feminist. Jane Shore, mistress of King Edward IV, was punished similarly after Edward's death. Cersei is defined by her pride, and this punishment was directed at women to break their pride, but was never inflicted on men.
Critics addressed the series' portrayal of women after the Game of Thrones began airing in 2011. Ginia Bellafante wrote in a piece in The New York Times that the series was "boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population's other half" and considered it a "true perversion" that "all of this illicitness [in the TV series] has been tossed in as a little something for the ladies, out of a justifiable fear, perhaps, that no woman alive would watch otherwise". Although there may be women who read books like the Ice and Fire series, Bellafante said to never have "met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to The Hobbit first". The article received so many responses that the New York Times had to close down the comments section.
Ilana Teitelbaum of The Huffington Post responded in an article called "Dear New York Times: A Game of Thrones Is Not Just for Boys", claiming that Bellafante's piece was not only rife with inaccuracies, but also patronizing to female readers. Teitelbaum defended the many sex scenes in the TV series because the books as a source sprawl with them. She encouraged discussion of the Ice and Fire books and the fantasy genre from a feminist perspective, but rejected Bellafante's point that only men are interested in fantasy, considering Bellafante's characterization of fantasy as "boy fiction" as a promotion of gender stereotyping offensive to the genre as well as to women. Scott Meslow of The Atlantic noted the need to differentiate between depicting misogyny and endorsing misogyny, as the series is set in a world in which sex is the primary means by which women can assert their power. Although the TV series may sometimes toe the line between Skinimax-style exploitation and genuine plot advancement, the sexual scenes also invite the viewers to sympathize with the series' women.
Martin has said that he is a romantic, in the classical sense. He has said that the trouble with being a romantic is that from a very early age you keep having your face smashed into the harshness of reality, things aren't always fair, bad things happen to good people, etcetera. He said it's a realist’s world, so romantics are burned quite often. This theme of romantic idealism conflicting with harsh reality is something he finds very dramatic and compelling, and he weaves it into his work. Specifically he mentioned that the knight exemplifies this, as the chivalric code is one of the most idealistic out there, protection of the weak, paragon of all that is good, fighting for truth and justice. The reality was that knights were people, and therefore could do horrible cruel things, rape, pillage, wanton killing, made all the more striking or horrifying because it was in complete opposition to what they were "supposed" to be. 
Unlike Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the novels address religion in some detail, and portray several competing religions. Martin included religion in the novels to make them more realistic. After all, religion was very important to people living in the Middle Ages. Considering himself a lapsed Catholic with atheist or agnostic streaks, Martin is fascinated by religion and spirituality. Since entirely made-up religions are more difficult to make plausible, George R. R. Martin based the series' major religions on real religious systems, which he tweaked or expanded with imaginative elements, without doing one-to-one transformations. The fictional history of Westeros shows how each religion evolved. Each of the religions reflects its culture's temperament. However, Martin regards any (real or fictional) religion's claim to truth with suspicion and has never been satisfied by standard answers to questions like how a benevolent God allows for a world full of rape, torture and pain.
No religion is presented as the true faith, although there are eerie displays of power on many sides, nor do any have a monopoly on virtue. Martin tries to slowly reveal in how far the many different kinds of magic in the Ice and Fire world may be manifestations of the same mysterious supernatural forces, and readers can puzzle out the relation between the religions and the various magics. Readers remain free to wonder about the validity, teachings and supernatural power of the competing religions in Ice and Fire. Martin said the series' gods are unlikely to appear deus-ex-machina in Westeros.
The Old Gods
The old gods are nameless deities worshipped by the Northern population of Westeros. Martin loosely based this belief system on "animism and traditional Pagan beliefs of Wicca and various other Celtic systems and Norse systems", which he blended with fantasy elements (Weirwood trees) of his own imagining.
The Faith of the Seven
The Faith of the Seven, often called simply "The Faith", is based on the medieval Catholic church and the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The Seven describe the seven aspects of one god, consisting of the Father, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Smith, Warrior, and a Stranger instead of Christianity's Father, Son and Holy Ghost. According to Martin, the Mother, Maiden and Crone were inspired by Pagan views of womanhood, while the Father, Smith, Warrior as masculine elements were added later. The Stranger, who is neither male nor female, represents mystery and death.
The Faith's hierarchy is also drawn from Catholicism, being headed by the High Septon, who in turn is elected by a clerical high council known as the Most Devout. The priests of the Seven are called septon (male) or septa (female). The Seven's also has equivalents of monks of various orders, of which the Silent Sisters are the most prominent, taking a vow of silence and caring for the bodies of the dead. Many aspects of the religion are based on the number seven, and The Seven Pointed Star is their symbol and among the Faith's most important holy texts.
The Faith of the Seven is the basis for the social concepts of "knights" in the Seven Kingdoms culture, although actual religious warriors, the Faith Militant, are not the same as knights and had been disbanded for several centuries before the War of the Five Kings. Thus, few warriors in the North may attain the title of knight and the style "Ser" as most Northerners worship the old gods. The Faith of the Seven is the predominant religion for most of Westeros' population, though it has some followers in the Iron Islands and the North.
The Drowned God
The worship of the Drowned God is a local religion of the Ironborn and reflects that the Iron Islands are a rough place to live. The Ironborn are a seafaring island civilization, and their worship of the Drowned God reflects this. Water and drowning play prominent roles in the religion. Priests annointed in a ritual that Martin compared to baptism, people are drowned in sea water (their holy water) and then brought back to life. The belief system of the Drowned God actually encourages martial prowess, and essentially preaches that the Ironborn's traditional activities - piracy, sea raiding for treasure and female captives, causing wanton death and destruction - are all positive and praiseworthy. Capital punishment often takes the form of drowning in seawater as a sacrifice to the Drowned God.
R'hllor - The Lord of Light
R'hllor, also known as the Red God and the Lord of Light, is a religion practiced primarily in Essos, and his priests have only had a small presence in the Seven Kingdoms. This religion has a strong focus on prophecy and on ecstatic visions that one receives through communion with the flames. The antithesis of R'hllor is the "Great Other", a god of ice and death. According to Martin, this faith is roughly based upon the fire worship of Zoroastrianism. This religion's dualistic aspects of a good and an evil god are also inspired by Zoroastrianism, along with the Catharites of Medieval Europe who were annihilated during the Albigensian Crusade. In A Song of Ice and Fire, ancient prophecies in the books of Asshai suggest that the ageless struggle between the two deities will only come to an end when the messianic figure Azor Ahai returns to the world, wielding Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and raise dragons of stone.
A Dance with Dragons explores the different religions of Westeros and Essos more than any other novel in the series. Arya's Bravos chapters in A Dance with Dragons refer to 17 different obscure religions, which Martin is "probably never going to reveal in much detail". An Essos location named the Isle of the Gods also makes subtle nods to other fantasy authors and mythoses Martin admires, for example homages to Roger Zelazny and H. P. Lovecraft.
The god of death is an element of several religions in Westeros and Essos, even being the center of the Cult of The Faceless Men in Essos. Martin thought that "worship of death is an interesting basis for religion because after all, death is the one universal. It doesn't seem to matter what gods you pray to. We all die in the real world and in fantasy worlds. So if there was one culture you did not die, I suspect that God would become very popular. They will promise us eternal life, but whatever." He said the belief that "the world we live in was created by the evil god [is] kind of persuasive" when "you look at the world, particularly the Medieval world".
Food is such a central element in the Ice and Fire series that some critics have accused Martin of "gratuitous feasting". By fans' count, the first four novels name more than 160 dishes, ranging from peasant meals to royal feasts featuring camel, crocodile, singing squid, seagulls, lacquered ducks and spiny grubs. Adam Bruski of The Huffington Post said the vivid descriptions of food do not just lend color and flavor to the fictional world but almost appear as a supporting character. Some dishes have a foreshadowing nature or are particularly appropriate to the mood and temperament of their diners. Much of the realism of Martin's cultures comes through their unique foods and tastes. The meals signal everything from a character's disposition to plot developments, but also forebode the last profitable harvest before the coming winter. Inedible-sounding food was eaten at the Red Wedding in A Storm of Swords, preparing readers for the nauseating circumstances to come.
Fans seeking to immerse themselves deeper in their favorite fictional worlds have started cooking dishes from the books. The culinary fan blog "Inn at the Crossroads" received over a million hits. Martin, who is "very good at eating [but] not too much of a cook", received repeated requests to write a cookbook over the years. Two rival cookbooks based on the series are announced, with A Feast of Ice and Fire being released in May 2012.
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- Rosenberg, Alyssa (August 31, 2011). "Fantasy on TV: How Game of Thrones Succeeds Where True Blood Fails". theatlantic.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/fantasy-on-tv-how-game-of-thrones-succeeds-where-true-blood-fails/244365/. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Hibberd, James (July 12, 2011). "EW interview: George R.R. Martin talks A Dance With Dragons". ew.com. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/07/12/george-martin-talks-a-dance-with-dragons/. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Redman, Bridgette (May 2006). "George R.R. Martin Talks Ice and Fire". book.consumerhelpweb.com. http://book.consumerhelpweb.com/authors/marting/interview.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-21. (see http://www.consumerhelpweb.com/aboutus/aboutus.htm )
- Zadravec, Goran (December 2003). "An Interview With George R. R. Martin". mezmera.posluh.hr. http://mezmera.posluh.hr/bazaar/interview_george_r_r_martin.asp. Retrieved 2012-01-21. (Interview approved by GRRM.)
- Poniewozik, James (April 20, 2011). "GRRM Interview Part 4: Personal History". time.com. http://entertainment.time.com/2011/04/20/grrm-interview-part-4-personal-history/. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Patrick (May 17, 2006). "George R.R. Martin". sffworld.com. http://sffworld.com/interview/186p0.html. Retrieved 2012-01-21. (see http://sffworld.com/interviewslast.html )
- MacLaurin, Wayne (November 2000). "A Conversation With George R.R. Martin". sfsite.com. http://www.sfsite.com/01a/gm95.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-21. (Interview approved by GRRM.)
- Schweitzer, Darrell (May 24, 2007). "George R.R. Martin on magic vs. science". weirdtalesmagazine.com. http://weirdtalesmagazine.com/2007/05/24/george-rr-martin-on-magic-vs-science/. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Martin, George R.R (April 8, 2012). George R.R. Martin Interview. Eastercon. Event occurs at 49:30. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/21681757. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
- Sacks, Ethan (December 30, 2011). "George R.R. Martin surprises Song of Ice and Fire fans with free chapter of next book". nydailynews.com. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2011/12/george-rr-martin-surprises-song-of-ice-and-fire-fans-with-free-chapter-of-next-boo. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Walter, Damien G (July 26, 2011). "George RR Martin's fantasy is not far from reality". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/26/george-r-r-martin-fantasy-reality. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Poniewozik, James (April 18, 2011). "GRRM Interview Part 2: Fantasy and History". time.com. http://entertainment.time.com/2011/04/18/grrm-interview-part-2-fantasy-and-history/. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Gevers, Nick (December 2000). "Sunsets of High Renown – An Interview with George R. R. Martin". infinityplus.co.uk. http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intgrrm.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-21. (Interview approved by GRRM.)
- "The battle between good and evil reigns - Martin talks about new series Game of Thrones". guardian.co.tt. June 11, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.tt/entertainment/2011/06/10/martin-talks-about-new-series-game-thrones. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Taylor, Amber (April 14, 2011). "Game of Thrones: A Brutal Fantasy With Mass Appeal". theatlantic.com. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/game-of-thrones-a-brutal-fantasy-with-mass-appeal/237316/. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Grossman, Lev (November 13, 2005). "Books: The American Tolkien". time.com. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129596,00.html. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- Donahue, Deirdre (July 11, 2011). "Fifth book in Game of Thrones series released". usatoday.com. http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2011-07-11-dance-with-dragons_n.htm. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- Baum, Michele Dula (April 11, 2001). "A Song of Ice and Fire – Author George R.R. Martin's fantastic kingdoms". cnn.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/04/11/george.rr.martin/index.html. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- "George R.R. Martin: The Gray Lords". locusmag.com. November 2005. http://www.locusmag.com/2005/Issues/11Martin.html. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Hibberd, James (July 22, 2011). "The Fantasy King". ew.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20470532_20511966,00.html. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Sheehan, Bill (July 12, 2011). "A Dance with Dragons worth the long long wait". washingtonpost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-george-rr-martins-a-dance-with-dragons/2011/06/20/gIQAuJ1z9H_story.html. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Kirschling, Gregory (November 27, 2007). "By George!". ew.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20161804,00.html. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Harte, Bryant (July 12, 2011). "An Interview with George R. R. Martin, Part I". indigo.ca. http://blog.indigo.ca/fiction/item/512-an-interview-with-george-r-r-martin-part-one.html. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- Sacks, Ethan (July 10, 2011). "A Dance With Dragons captures fans' imaginations: Fantasy author George R.R. Martin releases book". nydailynews.com. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-07-10/entertainment/29775485_1_tyrion-releases-book-first-book. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Robinson, Tasha (November 7, 2005). "George R.R. Martin dines on fowl words as the Song of Ice and Fire series continues with A Feast for Crows". Science Fiction Weekly (scifi.com) 11, No. 45 (446). Archived from the original on 2005-11-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20051126224128/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/advance/31_interview.html. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
- Wasson, Megan (July 12, 2011). "A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin". csmonitor.com. http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2011/0712/A-Dance-with-Dragons-by-George-R.R.-Martin. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Smith, Julia (September 19, 2011). "George R. R. Martin, Author of A Song of Ice and Fire Series: Interview on The Sound of Young America". maximumfun.org. http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/george-r-r-martin-author-song-ice-and-fire-series-interview-sound-young-america. Retrieved 2012-02-13. (Interview approved by GRRM.)
- "Interview: George Martin". Deep Magic 41: 19–21. 2005.
- Poniewozik, James (April 15, 2011). "George R. R. Martin Interview, Part 1: Game of Thrones, from Book to TV". time.com. http://entertainment.time.com/2011/04/15/george-r-r-martin-on-game-of-thrones-from-book-to-tv. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Itzkoff, Dave (December 11, 2011). "A Family Affair as Old as Oedipus". nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/arts/television/incest-as-plot-point-on-3-hbo-series-just-by-chance.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Italie, Hillel (July 15, 2011). "Fans Flock To George R.R. Martin's NY Barnes & Noble Appearance". huffingtonpost.com. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/george-rr-martin_n_899672.html?. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
- Harte, Bryant (July 13, 2011). "An Interview With George R. R. Martin, Part II". indigo.ca. http://blog.indigo.ca/fiction/item/514-an-interview-with-george-r-r-martin-part-two.html. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- Meslow, Scott (June 20, 2011). "Game of Thrones Finale: The Powerful Women of Westeros". theatlantic.com. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/game-of-thrones-finale-the-powerful-women-of-westeros/240686/. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
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- Bellafante, Ginia (April 14, 2011). "A Fantasy World of Strange Feuding Kingdoms". nytimes.com. http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/arts/television/game-of-thrones-begins-sunday-on-hbo-review.html. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Birmingham, John (August 1, 2011). "A conversation with Game of Thrones author George RR Martin". smh.com.au. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/blogs/the-geek/a-conversation-with-game-of-thrones-author-george-rr-martin-20110801-1i6wj.html. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- Teitelbaum, Ilana (April 16, 2011). "Dear New York Times: A Game of Thrones Is Not Just for Boys". huffingtonpost.com. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilana-teitelbaum/game-of-thrones-hbo_b_850014.html. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
- Meslow, Scott (April 25, 2011). "Game of Thrones: Making Sense of All the Sex". theatlantic.com. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/game-of-thrones-making-sense-of-all-the-sex/237759/. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- US Signing Tour (Seattle, WA), November 21, 2005, So Spake Martin
- US Signing Tour (Seattle, WA), November 21, 2005, So Spake Martin
- Martin, George R.R (April 16, 2012). Game Of Thrones Season 2: Religions Of Westeros. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIe0Q3PgcOw. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- Poniewozik, James (July 12, 2011). "The Problems of Power: George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons". time.com. http://entertainment.time.com/2011/07/12/the-problems-of-power-george-r-r-martins-a-dance-with-dragons/. Retrieved 2012-01-21.
- Alter, Alexandra (December 8, 2011). "These Literary Tastes Include Eel Pie, Grilled Snake". wsj.com. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203935604577064981671021446.html. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- Rosenberg, Alyssa (June 21, 2011). "Food in Fiction: How Cooking Brings You Closer to the Characters". theatlantic.com. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/food-in-fiction-how-cooking-brings-you-closer-to-the-characters/240777/. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
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