George R.R. Martin

Martin was a prolific author of short fiction in the 1970s, and won several Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards before he started to turn his attention to novels late in the decade. Although much of his work is fantasy or horror, several of his early short stories are science fiction occurring in a loosely-defined future history.

In the 1980s he turned to work in television and as an editor. On television, he worked on the new Twilight Zone series, as well as Beauty and the Beast. As an editor, he oversaw the lengthy Wild Cards cycle, which took place in a shared universe in which an alien virus bestowed strange powers or disfigurements on a slice of humanity during World War II, affecting the history of the world thereafter (the premise was perhaps inspired by comic book superheroes). Contributors to the Wild Cards series included Stephen Leigh, Lewis Shiner, Howard Waldrop, Walter Jon Williams and Roger Zelazny.

Martin's short story of the same name was adapted into the feature film Nightflyers (1987).

In 1996 Martin returned to writing novel-length stories, beginning his lengthy cycle A Song of Ice and Fire (ostensibly inspired by the success of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time cycle), to great critical acclaim.

Bibliography

Novels

• Dying of the Light (1977)
• Windhaven (1981, with Lisa Tuttle)
• Fevre Dream (1982)
• The Armageddon Rag (1983)
• Dead Man's Hand (1990, with John J. Miller)

• A Song of Ice and Fire cycle:
  • A Game of Thrones (1996)
  • A Clash of Kings (1999)
  • A Storm of Swords (2000)
  • 'The second half of the cycle has been announced as being titled A Feast for Crows, A Dance With Dragons and The Winds of Winter

Collections

• A Song for Lya (1976)
• Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977)
• Sandkings (1981)
• Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983)
• Nightflyers (1985)
• Tuf Voyaging (1987, collection of linked stories)
• Portraits of His Children (1987)
• Quartet (2001)
• (forthcoming)

Uncollected Short Fiction

Wild Cards (as Editor)

• Wild Cards I (1987)
• Wild Cards II: Aces High (1987)
• Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild (1987)
• Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad (1988)
• Wild Cards V: Down & Dirty (1988)
• Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole (1990)
• Wild Cards VII: Dead Man's Hand (1990)
• Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks (1991)
• Wild Cards IX: Jokertown Shuffle (1991)
• Wild Cards X: Double Solitaire (1992)
• Wild Cards XI: Dealer's Choice (1992)
• Wild Cards XII: Turn of the Cards (1993)

• Wild Cards: Card Sharks (1993)
• Wild Cards: Marked Cards (1994)
• Wild Cards: Black Trump (1995) (these three books are a trilogy)

Awards

• "A Song for Lya" (1974) Hugo
• "Sandkings" (1979) Hugo and Nebula
• "The Way of Cross and Dragon" (1979) Hugo
• "Portraits of His Children" (1985) Nebula

External Links

• George R. R. Martin official site

Referenced By