Game of Thrones mastermind George RR Martin talks about death, his start in publishing and why writers really write
‘All men must die’ – why the fantasy writer doesn’t shirk from killing off major characters in his works
George RR Martin, renowned for killing off major characters unexpectedly in his bestselling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, adapted for TV as Game of Thrones, has said that stories in which only the extras die are “such a cheat”.
Martin, returning to his origins in science fiction magazines with an interview in Galaxy’s Edge, says “a writer, even a fantasy writer, has an obligation to tell the truth and the truth is, as we say in Game of Thrones, all men must die”.
“We’ve all read this story a million times when a bunch of heroes set out on adventure and it’s the hero and his best friend and his girlfriend and they go through amazing hair-raising adventures and none of them die. The only ones who die are extras,” Martin says. “That’s such a cheat. It doesn’t happen that way. They go into battle and their best friend dies or they get horribly wounded. They lose their leg or death comes at them unexpectedly.”
If a writer is going to be honest, Martin says, they have to write about death, especially if they’re telling a story about war or conflict. “Once you’ve accepted that you have to include death, then you should be honest … and indicate it can strike down anybody at any time. You don’t get to live forever just because you are a cute kid or the hero’s best friend or the hero. Sometimes the hero dies, at least in my books,” says Martin. “I love all my characters so it’s always hard to kill them but I know it has to be done. I tend to think I don’t kill them. The other characters kill ’em. I shift off all blame from myself.”
The latest issue of the bi-monthly free online magazine Galaxy’s Edge also features Martin’s story Fast Friends, set in a universe where “Earth was teeming, civilised, dull; time and technology had homogenised it”, and “what romance there was left was all in space”.
