THE SUNDAY SNAP

Back to Westeros it is

It’s almost three years to the day that George RR Martin came to London and we had a good chat for a packed house at Emmanuel Hall. This afternoon I went digging through my iPhone archive in search of a little trip down memory lane. Here’s what came up. A lot of lens flare and blur, and I don’t think GRRM looks completely convinced by what I’m telling him. All the same, it’s a fun night to remember, and an appropriate time to do it.

George was stopping over in London on his way to Comic Con in Dublin. He hadn’t been for years. And he was happy to be in town, I think, though he told me his life was getting pretty weird.

He went for an impromptu wander around the Tower of London, as I remember, and caused a minor stir. He said it was more or less impossible to do normal stuff. If he wanted to see his friends they had to come to his hotel suite. Going out was just asking for trouble. Mega-celebrity came quite late in his life and it was taking some adjustment.

Trouble is, George is a genius, and he’s famous because he created the material from which was spun one of the most talked-about television shows in modern history. Game of Thrones was/is a sensational show. It only represents a tiny slice of George’s output over half a century of work. But it was enough to catapult him into a tiny bracket of literary fame.

And now he’s back. The Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, launches worldwide in the next 24 hours. It’s based on some of the material in his book Fire & Blood, which was the volume he and I were discussing at Emmanuel Hall in the photo above.

Fire & Blood is a phoney narrative history of Westeros, focusing on the strange dynastic fortunes of the Targaryen family. If you like Game of Thrones nerdery, it’s great. If you just like narrative history, it’s a tour de force.

I remember telling him that evening how envious I was of his sheer writerly chops. I’ve spent my whole career trying to master the art of the narrative/dynastic history book. He just dropped in and aced it.

Anyway, happy memories. I’m looking forward to watching House of the Dragon, and seeing how his faux-history has translated to screen. If you are too - or if you’re not - have a great week. I’m at home for once - bliss!

I’ll post again in a couple of days.