A Song of Ice and Fire is a fantasy series by George R.R. Martin, a well-regarded and lauded science fiction and fantasy author. Novels in the series have been nominated for various awards (such as the Hugo and Nebula Awards), and have won their share of them (such as the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel).
In its initial conception, Mr. Martin supposed it would be a trilogy, but part way through A Game of Thrones he decided it’d have to be four books. While working on A Clash of Kings, he came to realize that the story would require at least six novels, and for a long time he stuck to this. However, with the announcement of A Feast for Crows being completed in May 2005 (in part by splitting off some POVs which appeared instead in the fifth novel, A Dance with Dragons), GRRM started to state that seven books was the new target for the series. As recently as October 2014, he’s reaffirmed his intent to finish the series in seven novels.
According to GRRM’s official website, official titles for the books are: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons, The Winds of Winter (forthcoming) and A Dream of Spring (forthcoming). A Time for Wolves is a possible title that GRRM has stated is in his contract, but it was one that he wasn’t happy with at the time.
Mr. Martin’s original intention was that there would have been a five or six year gap between the events of book 3 (A Storm of Swords) and book 4 (A Feast for Crows). However, during the initial writing of A Feast for Crows, Mr. Martin realized that it would not work as intended, and thus he scrapped his plans for a gap after a year of attempting to make it work. The problem was that he found it impossible to jump that span of years without too many flashbacks or expository text, which would break up the narrative too much and leave readers unsatisfied with the result.
What he has now determined is that the events he planned to happen after the five year gap will largely still take place as planned, but will be happening without having to cover those proposed five years. This does mean that some characters will be doing things at an earlier age than he supposed (meaning the children—Bran, Arya, and Sansa—in particular), but it’s an unavoidable problem. He has previously remarked that in hindsight, he should have made the children two or three years older so as to avoid that problem.
The Winds of Winter is as yet unscheduled, as it has not been completed at this time.
"Blood of the Dragon" is a novella drawn from Daenerys chapters from A Game of Thrones. It was published in Asimovs July 1996 issue. "Path of the Dragon" is a novella drawn from Daenerys chapters from A Storm of Swords. It was published in Asimovs December 2000 issue. "Arms of the Kraken" is a novella made up of four chapters with PoVs from the Iron Isles from A Feast for Crows. It was published in Dragon Magazine #305.
Please see the entry for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms which is a collection containing these novellas, originally published in various anthologies.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a collection of the first three ‘Dunk & Egg’ novellas, described below. The American edition, published October 6th 2015, is lavishly illustrated by Gary Gianni.
"The Hedge Knight" is a ‘Dunk & Egg’ novella originally published in Legends, an anthology edited by Robert Silverberg which contains original short stories and novellas from major fantasy authors in their various famous settings. GRRM’s contribution takes place around the year 209 during the reign of Daeron II, and has no apparent direct bearing on the novels. It’s also available in Dreamsongs II, a collection of Martin’s short fiction that we very highly recommend—besides “The Hedge Knight”, it contains a number of his award-winning short science fiction and horror stories.
"The Sworn Sword" is a ‘Dunk & Egg’ novella originally published in Legends II, a follow-up to the original Legends anthology. Like the first one, this one is also edited by Robert Silverberg and contains original short stories and novellas from major fantasy authors in their various famous settings. GRRM’s contribution takes place some time after the end of "The Hedge Knight", and it too has no apparent direct bearing on the novels.
"The Mystery Knight" is a ‘Dunk & Egg’ novella originally published in the Warriors anthology, released in March 2010.
The fourth "Dunk & Egg" story, currently untitled, had been announced by Martin as in the planning stages. It will feature Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg at Winterfell, where they will meet the “She-Wolves” as Martin first hinted at here. Martin had also stated it was to be published in an anthology he was co-editing with Gardner Dozois, titled Dangerous Women. However, plans were changed as Martin put aside the story and replaced it with other material he had written.
The fourth Dunk and Egg novella’s publication date remains unknown.
"The Hedge Knight" comic book is an adaption of GRRM’s novella, produced by Dabel Brothers Productions (formerly called Roaring Studios). The series has been collected into a graphic novel. Since joining with Marvel Comics, DB Pro began to publish an adaption of “The Sworn Sword”, which was completed by Marvel Studios and published in graphic novel form. The same team of Ben Avery and Mike S. Miller handled the creative duties, while Westeros.org and other knowledgable fans consulted on the production for the first several issues.
The same creative team adapted "The Sworn Sword" for Marvel Comics. An adaptation of “The Mystery Knight” has been announced, with the same creative team but for publisher Random House.
The World of Ice and Fire (US, UK) is a source book for A Song of Ice and Fire. Joining Mr. Martin in creating this work are Elio M. García, Jr. and Linda Antonsson (the founders and maintainers of Westeros.org). The book is lavishly illustrated, in-depth guide to the history, geography, cultures, religions, and characters featured in the series.
It was published on October 28, 2014.
As part of his contribution to The World of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin created an extensive history of House Targaryen from Aegon I through to the early reign of Aegon III. This material was so substantial that only heavily paraphrased or redacted forms were used in the actual book. These may see later publication in Fire and Blood/The GRRMarillion. However, Martin gave readers a partial taste by taking some of that material and, with the help of Gardner Dozois, editing it down to suit two anthologies which he published.
The first, “The Princess and the Queen”, was published in Dangerous Women and presents an edited down version of Martin’s account of the Dance of the Dragons, refocused on the titular characters and ending before the end of the conflict. The second, “The Rogue Prince”, was published in Rogues and is drawn from Martin’s account of the reign of Viserys I and his relationship with his brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen. These narratives provide more details than The World of Ice and Fire does, but do not provide the same level of completion as the world book does.
As part of his contribution to The World of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin created an extensive history of House Targaryen from Aegon I through to the early reign of Aegon III. This material was so substantial that only heavily paraphrased or redacted forms were used in the actual book. These may see later publication—alongside further Targaryen material—in Fire and Blood, also sometimes jokingly called the GRRMarillion. There is no prospective publication date for this work, as it remains speculative, but Martin suggests it would be a project for after he completes A Song of Ice and Fire.
The Lands of Ice and Fire (US, UK) is a collection of map posters detailing Westeros, Essos, the northern reaches of Sothryos, and the lands of the Jade Sea as far as Asshai, the Shadowlands beyond, and the mysterious Ulthos. Jonathan Roberts worked from George R.R. Martin’s hand-drawn maps of the regions. Also included is a “journeys” map tracking the paths of many of the point of view characters in A Song of Ice and Fire.
This is a comic book series adapting the A Song of Ice and Fire series, co-published by Bantam and Dynamite Entertainment. Adapted by writer Daniel Abraham and artist Tommy F. Patterson, the first twenty four issues are devoted to adapting A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the series. The first collected volume is available (Amazon US), as is the second (Amazon US) and third volume.
Game of Thrones is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, produced by HBO. The first season, consisting of 10-episodes based on A Game of Thrones, premiered on April 17th 2011. It was filmed in Northern Ireland on Malta during the autumn of 2010.
The intention is that each book will be covered in at least one season. GRRM is a co-executive producer and will write one script a season but he will not be involved in the day-to-day production of the series.
We have set up a separate Game of Thrones site to cover news and information about the series.