“The image of this litter of young giant wolves found in the summer snows suddenly appeared before my eyes.” George RR Martin remembers with some nostalgia the exact moment in 1991 when the start of the Iron Throne, adapted in series under the title Game of Thrones, came to him.
Met by The Independent at a literature festival in Santa Fe at the end of May, the American author, who lives in the capital of New Mexico, recalls that at that time he was writing short stories, novels and screenplays for TV series rather oriented towards science -fiction.
The idea of a whole new universe suddenly took hold of him. “This notion of ‘summer snow’ was there from the very beginning. If there was snow in the summer, it was a sign that something was wrong with the weather. I started writing the scene, adding castles and guys with swords. I wrote very quickly: in three days, I had finished the chapter, it’s a lot for me. As you probably know, I’m not particularly known for being one of the fastest writers in the world!”
The hour of the dragon has come
Three decades later, despite more than 350 chapters and an adaptation that has become one of the most followed series in history, Game of Thrones has not finished revealing all its secrets. The American channel HBO is launching a new television adaptation in the form of a prequel, of which Martin is credited as the creator. This time adapted from fire and blood (2018, translated into French by Pygm