Historical Inspirations Behind George RR Martin’s Series

Like many people, I started reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire after the show premiered. It was 2015 and I was commuting from New Hampshire to Boston by train and had a lot of time to sit and read.

I was trying to rush through the books as the rumor online back then was that the sixth book, Winds of Winter, was just around the corner…

Having seen the show, I thought I knew what I was getting into. I’d read some other fantasy series. How different could it be?

I didn’t expect to be so engrossed in this made-up world and so invested in these characters. All these years later, I still consider it one of the most profound reading experiences of my life (and I had to read Proust in college, so that’s saying something).

But what makes this series so remarkable? Why has it gone on to sell over 90 million copies worldwide?

The oft-repeated answers tend to be “It’s brutal,” “He kills off all the characters,” “The world is epic,” or simply “DRAGONS.”