George R.R. Martin
author profile
born
September 20, 1948
gender
male
place of birth
Bayonne, NJ, The United States
website
genre
Science Fiction & Fantasy
about this author
George R.R. Martin was born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.
Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: "The Hero," sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.
In 1970 M...more
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avg rating: 4.29
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upcoming events
Carrie Vaughn on tour for the book "Kitty's House of Horrors"
Author appearance, January 16, 2010 02:00PM
Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite 302, San Diego, CA, The United States
Carrie Vaughn on tour for the book "Kitty's House of Horrors"
Author appearance, January 16, 2010 02:00PM
Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite 302, San Diego, CA, The United States
Carrie Vaughn on tour for the book "Kitty's House of Horrors"
event from BookTour
showing 1 of 6
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Wild Cards : 1988 WorldCon Panel Interview
George R.R. Martin — The Ice Dragon
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George R.R. Martin — The Ice Dragon
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Contributing authors on panel are: Bud Simons, George R.R. Martin, Melinda Snodgrass, John J. Miller...more
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"The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.
Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth."
— George R.R. Martin
Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.
They can keep their heaven. When I die, I'd sooner go to middle Earth."
— George R.R. Martin
"We all need to be mocked from time to time, lest we take ourselves too seriously."
— George R.R. Martin
— George R.R. Martin
"When you play a game of thrones you win or you die. There is no middle ground."
— George R.R. Martin
— George R.R. Martin
polls
SERIES DISCUSSION: This run-off poll decides which series will become our first ever Beyond Reality Series!
The Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
37 total votes
11 comments
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to vote!
topics mentioning this author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SciFi and Fantasy...: Best battle sequence? | 23 | 85 | Aug 19, 2008 10:29AM | |
| SciFi and Fantasy...: best book you've read this year? | 64 | 365 | Dec 26, 2008 08:00AM | |
| SciFi and Fantasy...: Worst/Most Disappointing Book You've Read This Year? | 79 | 467 | Mar 10, 2009 05:30AM | |
| Fantasy Book Club: Peeve: Publishers chopping Fantasy books down | 19 | 126 | Apr 01, 2009 10:37PM | |
| True North: Who's on your "Cured" shelf | 15 | 72 | Apr 26, 2009 12:45AM | |
| The Alternative W...: We Just Want to have Fun! | 30 | 23 | Apr 28, 2009 05:12AM | |
| Beyond Reality: "Series Discussion" - nominations and poll | 28 | 75 | Apr 30, 2009 09:33AM | |
| Amazon Kindle: What kind of book fits the Kindle best? | 26 | 140 | May 31, 2009 06:59AM | |
| 50 Books A Year: Kez's 50 Books in a Year | 22 | 15 | Jun 03, 2009 05:54AM |































