HarperCollins UK recently posted a letter from George R. R. Martin in which he outlines the original plot for his new fantasy epic, A Song of Ice and Fire. The letter reveals his initial ideas on his epic A Song of Ice and Fire, including different character deaths, a revengeful Daenerys, an odd Arya love triangle, and more. Click the images below (from winteriscoming.net) to enlarge and read the full letter:
The letter shows us that A Game of Thrones was primarily about the feud between Starks and Lannisters and Martin originally intended this (or pitched it) to be a trilogy. That’s not all too surprising, because really, what fantasy series hasn’t started out this way? Interestingly, the second book was going to be A Dance with Dragons and focus on the “Dothraki invasion” and the third book was going to be Winds of Winter, so it looks like Martin got swept up indeed with all the events that take place in the three books after GoT: Clash of Kings, Storm of Swords, and Feast for Crows.
About his writing process Martin says, “As you know, I don’t outline my novels. I find that if I know exactly where a book is going, I lose all interest in writing it.”
No matter the details, it’s clear Martin had a strong idea for ASoIaF:
“This is going to be (I hope) quite an epic. Epic in its scale, epic in its action, and epic in its length… the cast will not always remain the same. Old characters will die, and new ones will be introduced. Some of the fatalities will include sympathetic viewpoint characters. I want the reader to feel that no one is ever completely safe, not even the characters who seem to be the heroes.”
I think we can all agree that those things haven’t changed at all. That A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic (and feels epic) is undeniable and we know more than anything that when it comes to the game of thrones, no one is safe.
What do you think of these early ideas? Are there any you think he should’ve kept? Any you’re happy to see scraped?
Watch HBO’s trailer for season five of Game of Thrones below:
Be the first to comment