Novelist George R.R. Martin’s life has changed since HBO brought his epic fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire to TV as Game of Thrones. In a recent, wide-ranging interview on the subject with The Observer, the best-selling author revealed his favorite scene in A Song of Ice and Fire. Surprisingly, it isn’t one of the more famous moments from the literary saga, like the Red Wedding or Ned Stark’s death.
“I remember there’s a speech that a septon [the Westerosi version of a priest] gives to Brienne about broken men and how they become broken,” he said. “I was always pretty pleased about writing that.”
Change isn’t always a synonym for improvement, though, and Martin revealed also that he misses leading a “normal” life and going in a bookstore or to a party without having a legion of his fans asking for a selfie with him.
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The novelist then explained why he became so slow at writing books, and the main reason turns out to be Game of Thrones‘ huge popularity.
“There were a couple of years where, if I could have finished the book, I could have stayed ahead of the show for another couple of years, and the stress was enormous,” he added. “I don’t think it was very good for me, because the very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down,” he said. “Every day I sat down to write and even if I had a good day – and a good day for me is three or four pages – I’d feel terrible because I’d be thinking: ‘My God, I have to finish the book. I’ve only written four pages when I should have written 40.’ But having the show finish is freeing, because I’m at my own pace now. I have good days and I have bad days and the stress is far less, although it’s still there.”
The author went on to emphasize that the controversial conclusion to HBO’s show will have no effect on what he’s writing.
“No, it doesn’t,” he added. “It doesn’t change anything at all… As Rick Nelson says in Garden Party, one of my favourite songs, you can’t please everybody, so you’ve got to please yourself.” We don’t yet have a publication date for The Winds of Winter or A Dream of Spring.
Which is your favorite scene from A Song of Ice and Fire? Let us know in the comments section below.
