Quick Wiki
- Full Name George Raymond Richard Martin
- Nickname GRRM, George RR Martin
- Occupation Novelist, Television Producer, Screenwriter
- Nationality American
- Birthplace Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
- Birth Date 1948-9-20
Quotes
George RR Martin | Biography 2021
Growing up in a low-income family, Martin's family had no car. His family lived on 1st Street, and the furthest he ever walked was to school on 5th Street. He used to see ships coming from different countries while living in a cramped and claustrophobic environment, which sparked a desire in him to escape and explore the world. Eventually, Martin found his salvation in books and films through which he could discover every part of the world and universe. He started to immerse himself in the realm of fantasy.
American author George Raymond Richard Martin is known for writing the famous fantasy novel series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire,' which was adapted into the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Who is George RR Martin?
Before the first novel by fantasy author George Raymond Richard Martin, 'Dying of the Light'— a space opera about love, clash of culture, and struggle for survival in a dying planet, was published in 1977 mid-1980s—he was already writing for television. Later, his fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' debuted in 1996 with the first installment.
With the fourth title of the book series, 'A Feast for Crows,' he became a best-selling author in 2005, paving the way for a critically acclaimed TV adaptation, Game of Thrones- it premiered in 2011 and ended in 2019.
Early Life
On 20 September 1948, Martin was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, to longshoreman father Raymond Collins Martin and mother, Martin Margaret Brady. He has two sisters named Darleen Martin, and Patten Janet Martin were his sisters.
Growing up in a low-income family, Martin's family had no car. His family lived on 1st Street, and the furthest he ever walked was to school on 5th Street. He used to see ships coming from different countries while living in a cramped and claustrophobic environment, which sparked a desire in him to escape and explore the world. "There was a hunger in me to see more of the world, to see things I only read about in books," Martin notes.
On the other hand, Martin found his salvation in books and films through which he could discover every part of the world and universe. He started to immerse himself in the realm of fantasy.
From elementary school, Martin began writing. In his working-class neighborhood, he sold monster stories to other children. Martin went on to different subjects during his high school years. He started making new superheroes, and writing fan fiction focused on the comic books he adored. Martin was also a member of the chess team and a short story writer at Marist High School, a Catholic boys' school.
Martin continued his love for writing at Northwestern University after graduating in 1966. In 1970, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and, the following year, a master's degree in the same field.
From 1973 to 1976, Martin volunteered for the Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation as an alternative program as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He then worked at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, for two years as a college professor.
Early Writing Career
Martin's first short story, 'The Hero,' was accepted by the science-fiction magazine Galaxy and published in 1971. In 1974, he received a 'Hugo Award' for his science fiction novella 'A Song for Lya.' He accepted a job as a journalism professor at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1976.
Martin's first full-length novel, 'Dying of the Light,' a space opera about love, clash of culture, and struggle for survival in a dying planet, was published in 1977. Two years later, he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to pursue writing full-time. For his novelette Sandkings, he won both The Hugo and The Nebula Awards in 1981
In the same year, he published 'Windhaven' (co-written with Lisa Tuttle), a novel about a girl who learns the ability to fly. He also published two full-length works, 'Fevre Dream' in 1982 and 'The Armageddon Rag' in 1983. The film rights were optioned by a distributor, even though the latter sold poorly. The movie never got made.
Hollywood career
In 1986, he served as a story editor on a reboot of the old favorite show Twilight Zone, which drew some attention from Hollywood, and the following year, he joined the cast of the series Beauty and the Beast, which premiered the next year.
Martin faced some unique obstacles when it came to writing for television. In a National Public Radio interview, he said, "Whenever I would turn in a script, the producers would always say to me: George, this is wonderful, but it would cost five times our budget to produce it,." Later, Martin began a new writing project in the early 1990s, influenced by medieval England's Wars of the Roses, after being frustrated with the limitations of television.
Upcoming Projects
Following the massive success of HBO's adaptations of his Game of Thrones novels, Martin has signed a deal with HBO to produce several television shows for the network and its streaming arm, HBO Max.
Martin is currently working on five projects for HBO, including House of the Dragon, a prequel set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones that concentrates on the strong Targaryen dynasty that once ruled Westeros. Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Paddy Considine, and Matt Smith will star in the 10-episode season, which will premiere in 2022.
Martin is currently working on five projects for HBO, including House of the Dragon, a prequel set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones that concentrates on the strong Targaryen dynasty that once ruled Westeros. Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Paddy Considine, and Matt Smith will star in the 10-episode season, which will premiere in 2022.
Latest Projects
Elden Ring
The video game named Elden Ring that Martin co-created with FromSoftware’s CEO and the mastermind behind Dark Souls Hidetaka Miyazaki, released its trailer on June 2020. The game trailer was unveiled as a part of Summer Games Fest by Bandai Namco and FromSoftware, a video game company. This was one of the video games that people were looking forward to seeing as part of E3 2021 which is an event where software developers, publishers from the video game company, and hardware manufacturers exhibit their latest and upcoming projects.
Martin actively produces dense and sophisticated fantasy realms and histories, which is definitely the kind of thing the players will explore in the game.
The game is about a territory that is ruled by the eternal Queen Marika, the Elden Ring, and the source of the Erdtree which has been worn out. The queen’s descendants, demigods all, asserted the shards of the Elden Ring called the Great Runes and the crazy taint of their newly discovered strength caused the war.
The game is set to be released on 21 January 2022 for PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.
'A song of Ice and Fire: Winds of Winter'
'Winds of Winter' is Martin’s sixth book in the franchise of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' which hasn’t been released yet. He is still writing it. Martin’s previous novel 'A Dance with Dragons' came out in 2021. The legendary American Author Stephen King expressed his fright that he might not be able to find out the end of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' if Martin were to expire before the novel gets released. Many of the author’s fans are also worried as Martin might not finish the novel ever.
In the year 2019, Martin announced that people could expect their long-awaited novel 'A song of Ice and Fire : Winds of Winter' by August 2020 but it wasn’t released in the given time period. Martin kept promising that the novel is just about to get finished, however there was not any apparent progress. He had ample amount of time, a global pandemic locked him down from participating in events and appearing in conventions, and still there is no sign of the book in the ongoing year as well.
On 11th March 2021, he reached to his readers with a blog that said, he needs to finish the sixth novel which is 'Winds of Winter', and then probably get started with another 'Dunk & Egg' novella and eventually step into 'A Dream of Spring'.
Similarly, on 13th April 2021, the famous author implied that he is too behind in writing the sixth long-awaited novel. He addressed his fans on his blog "I am hugely behind right now, and the prospect of trying to catch up is feeling increasingly oppressive. My life has become one of extremes these past few months." He added "The good stuff that has been happening to me has been very very very good, the kind of thing that will make a year, or a career. But the bad stuff that is happening has been very very very bad, and it is hard to cherish the good and feel the joy when the shadows are all around."
Other Projects
Martin, a four-time Emmy winner, is creating the series Who Fears Death. It’s an adaptation of the award-winning 2011 post-apocalyptic novel by Nnedi Okorafor. Likewise, the author is also developing another series called Roadmarks for HBO which is an adaptation of a 1979 fantasy novel by Roger Zelazny. He will be the executive producer for both series.
Besides that Martin has been working on multiple other projects. His stories and short stories are being adapted by different directors to create a movie such as In the Lost Lands and a few short movies such as Friends Forever and The Ice Dragon at Warner Bros.
Similarly, Martin’s novella series, the 'Tales of Dunk and Egg' is going to be adapted into a TV Show. According to Variety, this prequel is still in the early phase and there is no reliable casting news or storyline to report till date.
'Roadmarks'
This series will be based on the novel 'Roadmarks' by Roger Zelazny and it will be a science fiction series. Martin had explained through his blog that Roadmarks is in development. In the process of development, Martin has been working and discussing with writer Kalinda Vazquez on the plot.
The Game of Thrones writer said that he will only be an executive producer for Roadmarks and Vazquez will serve as the showrunner.
The plot of Roadmarks wheels around a central highway that connects all time and existing realities. Every highway’s exits lead to a novel future or past from one or other reality. It's an intricate premise, and the book utilizes it by setting up a protagonist, Red Dorakeen, who uses the highway to travel through history into several worlds.
'House of the Dragon'
This series is the adaptation of Martin’s book 'Fire & Blood', which takes place 300 years before the Game of Thrones events. House of the Dragon will present the story of House of Targaryen, which gave birth to the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen.
In the series Paddy Considine plays King Viserys Targaryen and Emma D’Arcy plays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Similarly, Matt Smith who portrayed the role of Prince Philip in The Crown, plays Prince Daemon Targaryen. Steve Toussaint plays Lord Corlys Velaryon, aka The Sea Snake, whereas Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans play Alicent and Otto Hightower, respectively.
The series is set to be released in the first month of 2022.
Did You Know?
a. George Martin—who is usually known for extending his book release date and taking a long time to complete his books—has been working on the sixth novel of his epic fantasy series, 'A Song Of Ice And Fire.' The upcoming book is titled 'The WInds Of Winter,' which he has been penning since 2011.
