George R.R. Martin might have left Game of Thrones fans hanging the last few years while he forced them to wait for books 6 and 7 of the Song of Ice and Fire series that inspired the hit show, but credit should always be given where credit is due. George R.R. Martin's career covers far more ground than the books that spawned the HBO series.
He is an accomplished screenwriter with an impressive resume, and he has written and edited several other popular fantasy novels. If fans can't wait for the completion of his most famous series, they can check out the rest of Martin's career to fill the time.
9 His Early Career
While growing up poor in New Jersey, Martin developed a love of comic books and fantasy for escape. Eventually, Martin made his way out of the bad neighborhood and into college. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 1970, that same year Martin began to publish science fiction stories. Martin's career officially began when he was only 21. Not many people seem to know that Martin truly is a rags-to-riches story, the once struggling Martin name is now worth approximately $120 million
8 His Short Stories And First Novel
Two years after his first published story, one of his stories titled "With Morning Comes Mistfall," was nominated for the Hugo and the Nebula Awards, coveted honors among the writers in Martin's genre. His first novel was completed in 1976, titled Dying of the Light, it was nominated for a Hugo Award and the British Fantasy Award. It was also the first piece of long-form universe-building Martin ever began, as this was the first entry in his first series, the "Thousand World" series.
7 His Teaching Career
Like many writers, including Stephen King and T.S. Eliot, Martin taught to make ends meet when writing wasn't paying the bills. He took a gig at Clarke University in the mid-1970s thanks to fellow author George Guthridge. He became the Writer In Residence for the school in 1978. But his teaching career was short-lived, tragedy struck and he left the college in 1979 and moved to New Mexico, where he has famously resided ever since.
6 His Screenwriting Career
After the death of a close friend, Martin decided it was time to focus on writing. Martin published everything from vampire novels (Fevre Dream) to short horror stories like Portraits of His Children. But of course, sci-fi and fantasy were always where he thrived. Eventually, Martin's work would lead him to screenwriting. When a deal for a movie adaptation of one of his books fell through, Martin kept in touch with producers and landed a gig writing for the 1980s reboot of The Twilight Zone.
After this gig, he got a job writing for Max Headroom, an iconic 1980s pop culture character. A major chunk of Martin's screenwriting work was for a 1989 miniseries of Beauty and the Beast on which Martin was also a producer. Martin would also collaborate with Game of Thrones showrunners, and wrote several episodes before stepping back from the show after the 4th season. He wrote one feature film in 1987 titled Nightflyers, based on a novella he wrote of the same name.
5 His Extended Universe
Many authors and universe builders like to extend the realm of their fictional worlds with additional material. The Star Wars extended universe was one of the first, and most innovative, and now A Song of Ice and Fire is among the ranks of worlds like George Lucas's Jedi or J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.
In addition to the five novels already published and the two (allegedly) forthcoming, there are 4 prequels in writing so far. Tales Of Dunk and Egg is a story told through 3 novellas; The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight. So is The Rogue Prince and The Princess series, which includes the titles The Princess and the Queen, The Roque Prince, and The Sons of the Dragon. There is also the novel Fire and Blood which came out in 2018. There are also three companion books published as fictional compendiums of the Ice and Fire world.
4 His Stand-Alone Novels
As of 2023, Martin has published 7 full-length stories that are completely separate from Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones. In addition to the two novels already mentioned, there is Windhaven, Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag, Tuf Voyaging, and Hustler's Run. He also published the children's novel The Ice Dragon, which was originally published in 1980.
3 His Editorial Career
Martin also made a healthy living as an editor. He was on the editorial team for several editions of New Voices in Science Fiction, where he collaborated with greats of the genre like Isaac Asimov. He was also the series editor for Wild Cards, a popular series of both shared universe and stand-alone novels. Martin's first Wild Cards piece came out in 1987, and he remains its editor to this day. Wild Cards XXXI: Pairing Up is allegedly in the works, but no release date as yet exists.
2 Will We Ever Get A Book 6?
The question on most readers' minds at this point is obvious, "Will George R.R. Martin ever finish the series? Will we even get the 6th book!?" The only one who can answer that question is George R.R. Martin, who has been working on book six for several years now. Some fans worry that Martin is too old now to finish the series and that he will die before writing its ending. Martin takes offense to these criticisms, offering a firm but short retort, "F**k you."
1 His Involvement With House of Dragons
Another question on everyone's mind is, well how involved is he with the new Game of Thrones show House of Dragons? Well, he seems pretty darn okay with it since he is listed as an executive producer and a co-creator. Fans might still be eagerly awaiting the conclusion of A Song of Ice and Fire, but it's not like they have nothing to do while they wait. As of 2023, George R.R. Martin is responsible for giving the world more than 60 books. Even after book six comes out, A Song of Ice and Fire doesn't even cover 1/10th of his work.
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