A history of the Targaryen dynasty set hundreds of years before HBOsGame of Thrones, George R.R.

I dont want people buying it thinking theyre going to get something likeA Game of ThronesorDance With Dragons.

This is an imaginary history.

I dont want to mislead people into thinking theyre getting a traditional novel.

But once you do and the story starts to take off it works on its own terms.

Lets start with the backstory here, though.

Even by the time Elio and Linda were finished, it was 70,000 words of text.

Then I started writing these sidebars and, you know, when Im really going I get carried away.

Next thing I knew I had written 300,000 words of sidebars and only got up to Aegon III.

Plus, I wrote additional material for it.

Partly because its linear.

Thats far more complicated.

And the history book, I only have one voice to do.

Its supposedly by the Archermaester Gyldayn who has his own particular voice; hes a crotchety old academic.

When Im doingWinds,I switch voices every time I switch chapters.

You do shift voices somewhat inFire and Bloodtoo, right?Yes.

Like a historian today writing about the Civil War, they werent present during the Civil War.

You could have done a history book on any aspect of the realm.

What made the Targaryens right?Theyre distinctly different from every other Westerosi family.

Theyre practicing incest like the Ancient Egyptians to take a stab at keep the bloodline pure.

And they have the dragons, which nobody else has.

you’re able to never go wrong with a dragon.

If I ever got into that, maybe I could figure out some good stories to make it juicy.

Do you have a favorite character in this timeline?I love gray characters.

He does some heroic things [and] some appalling, vile things.

Hes a complicated guy and a lot of fun to write about.

That said, the more recent work here is the stuff about Jaehaerys and Alysanne.

I skipped over that because peace and prosperity are boring.

I had a lot of fun investing some pretty cool stories for that period.

Peace doesnt have to be boring, I guess.

Readers will have to find them and puzzle out whether theyre hints or red herrings.

Theres something sort of thrilling and horrifying about how cheap life is in Westeros.

Im not sure Ive read a book with a higher body count than this one.

If anything, Ive toned Westeros down compared to what actually happened during the Dark Ages and Middle Ages.

History is written in blood, as somebody said.

This book takes place hundreds of years ago and Westeros seems pretty different than inThrones.

Again, Im trying to reflect real-life things that a lot of high fantasy doesnt reflect.

I dont think so.

Now were getting more realistic dating now from carbon dating and archeology.

But Westeros doesnt have that.

Theyre still in the stage of my grandfather told me and his grandfather told him.

So I think its closer to 5,000 years.

Westeros is a very different place.

Theres no Kings Landing.

[Prequel showrunner Jane Goldman] is a tremendous talent.

She flew into Santa Fe and we spent a week talking about her ideas.

Shes going into territory that I havent explored very much in the books.

Ive hinted about them.

But shes a major writer, I love her work.

But honestly, the single thing that excites me most is that I finished it.

And Im mad about that myself.

I wished I finished it four years ago.

I wished it was finished now.

The show is going further and further forward and Im falling further and further behind.

What the hell is happening here?

Ive got to do this.

The illustrations by Doug Wheatley are great.

And I have continued to publish other things.

Its not like Ive been on a seven-year vacation.

I haveWild Cardsbooks coming out every six months.

But not like this, one thats entirely my writing.

So to finish a book that Im proud of and excited by was emotionally a big lift for me.