Thank you for your swift and concise reply to my Romeo and Juliet. I was wondering then, did you draw inspiration from the Illiad, particularly the Siege of Troy, when you drew up your saga of the War of the Usurper? Thank you very much for your time!
I draw inspiration from everywhere, like most writers. But THE ILIAD was not a direct influence, by any means.
Hello Mr Martin, sorry to take up your time, but I was looking at some of the parallels between the Ned and Ashara saga and the Romeo and Juliet play, and I was wondering if you had consciously drawn the story of Eddard Stark and Ashara Dayne directly from the Shakespeare play??
Sorry, but no.
Well, in A Storm of Swords it was mentioned by Catelyn that something momentous happened there--Barristan slew the last of the Blackfyre pretenders, Maelys the Monstrous on the Stony Steps at Summerhall. Also, when there is a mention during the discussion of raising the stone dragon, one of the Florents asked if they had "learnt nothing from Summerhall". It's a very intriguing mention, and since Dunk and Egg were there, I was wondering if we would ever see that written into a story...it sounds very intriguing. I presume that the events must revolve around Aegon V, Ser Duncan the Tall and the last of the Blackfyre pretenders.
You're confusing two different events.
Ser Barristan slew Maelys on the Stepstones, the island chain where the War of the Ninepenny Kings was fought. It had nothing to do with Summerhall.
Littlefinger was named Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Trident. The Freys got Riverrun. Are the Freys therefore bannermen to Littlefinger, or do they now have a "great house" status owing direct allegience only to the King. Ran and I have been trying to figure this one out and are stuck.
Technically speaking, the Freys are now bannermen of Petyr's yes... assuming that Tommen and Joffrey are regarded as legitimate kings, entitled to make such dispositions.
In practice, it remains to be seen how deferential the Freys will be.
Take care, and good luck writing A Dance with Dragons.
I'll need it...
[Note: The following interview is made available through the Internet Archive. The precise date, beyond January 2001, is unknown.]
http://web.archive.org/web/20010804025946/writersreview.com/george_martin.htm