1. George R. R. Martin
Wait, what? No, I’m not messing with you. While ASOIAF is George R. R. Martin’s magnum opus, the man has done a ton of other stuff as well. For starters, he’s released a few short stories set in the same world of ASOIAF centuries before the events of the main books take place (known as the “Dunk and Egg” novellas), giving insight into what life was like during the prime of the Targaryen dynasty. They are of the same quality, though with a slightly lighter tone than the ASOIAF novels. Plus they’re filled with a fair amount of easter eggs, nods to the fans, and bits of info that more hardcore fans have used in various fan theories. But beside all that, there are the entirely different novels that GRRM wrote before ASOIAF. The two I think are worth checking out are Fevre Dream and The Armageddon Rag, the former a vampire story set in the antebellum South, and the later a fantasy-laden mystery that examines the world of rock and roll in the 60s. They serve as interesting examinations of GRRM’s growth as a writer and let us see how he faces other facets of fantasy. So read up my friends! What better way to perform a literary rain dance than to read every single word written by our bearded lord of the Seven Kingdoms?
Advertisement
