George R.R. Martin has an omnivorous appetite for books, movies, and TV. Over the years, the Song of Ice and Fire series author has recommended dozens of works of entertainment on his blog and in interviews: historical novels, thrillers, epic fantasy, literary science fiction.
Now, for the uninitiated, Martin has a primer.
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has published a list of nine books recommended by the writer to fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones show. He named five works of fantasy and five of his favorite books of all time. He recommended Tolkien twice.
Taken as a whole, the recommendations show the stories about power and fallen men, as well as the polyphonic casts of fate’s victims, that have informed Martin’s famous series.
All-time favorites
- The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien
- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
- A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
- The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
Fantasy recommendations
- The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien
- Watership Down, by Richard Adams
- The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
- Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
- A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin