Martin's inspirations included the Wars of the Roses and the French historical novel series The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon. Three main stories interweave: a dynastic war among several families for control of Westeros, the rising threat of the supernatural Others in northernmost Westeros, and the ambition of the deposed king's exiled daughter to assume the Iron Throne. The point of view of each chapter in the story is a limited perspective of a range of characters growing from nine in the first novel, to 31 characters by the fifth novel. A seventh novel, A Dream of Spring, is planned.Ī Song of Ice and Fire takes place on the fictional continents Westeros and Essos. He is currently writing the sixth novel, The Winds of Winter. The fifth and most recent volume of the series, A Dance with Dragons, was published in 2011, six years after the publication of the preceding book, A Feast for Crows. Martin, who initially envisioned the series as a trilogy, has published five out of a planned seven volumes. He began the first volume of the series, A Game of Thrones, in 1991, and it was published in 1996. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.įrom all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge.

Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone-a structure only as strong as those guarding it. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.įleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance-beset by newly emerging threats from every direction.

A dance with dragons