Q 01/05

Which pets, dying in a toy castle, inspired young George R. R. Martin's tales of sinister plots?

A) Goldfish

B) Hamsters

C) Turtles

D) Lizards

Answer · why

C) Turtles

Turtles kept dying in the toy castle, so the boy decided they were killing each other off and wrote stories about their mythical kingdom. He also sold...

Q 02/05

Which game's weekend tournaments did George R. R. Martin direct in the 1970s to fund his writing?

A) Chess

B) Bridge

C) Poker

D) Scrabble

Answer · why

A) Chess

Chess paid Martin's bills from 1973 to 1976, after Bobby Fischer's world title win set off an American craze. Tournaments ran only at weekends, leavin...

Q 03/05

Which Marvel writer did George R. R. Martin call maybe a bigger influence on him than Shakespeare?

A) Jack Kirby

B) Steve Ditko

C) Gerry Conway

D) Stan Lee

Answer · why

D) Stan Lee

Stan Lee's superheroes hooked Martin in high school, and a fan letter he sent to Marvel was printed in 1963. He went on to write prose superhero stori...

Q 04/05

Time critic Lev Grossman called George R. R. Martin the American version of which fantasy author?

A) Michael Moorcock

B) J. R. R. Tolkien

C) C. S. Lewis

D) Terry Pratchett

Answer · why

B) J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien is a writer Martin greatly admires, but the label fits loosely: Martin doubts that a good man automatically makes a good king, and wr...

Q 05/05

Which event in A Storm of Swords did George R. R. Martin call the hardest thing he ever wrote?

A) The Red Wedding

B) The Purple Wedding

C) The Sack of Astapor

D) The Battle of Castle Black

Answer · why

A) The Red Wedding

The Red Wedding was so painful that Martin finished every other chapter of the book before he could face writing it. A Storm of Swords went on to win ...