(From Wikipedia)tsA Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes (the fifth was published on July 12, 2011); a further two are planned. In addition there are three prequel novellas currently available, with several more being planned, and a series of novella-length excerpts from the main Ice and Fire novels; Martin announced on his 2011 national book tour that the first four prequel novellas, his \"Dunk and Egg\" series, will be collected into a book and published by Bantam Spectra after the fourth novella is first published in an original anthology he and Gardner Dozois are editing. One of these earlier excerpt novellas won science fiction\'s Hugo Award. The \"Ice and Fire\" series has been translated into more than 20 languages[1] and the fourth and fifth volumes reached the top of The New York Times bestseller lists in 2005 and 2011.[2] Overall, the series has sold more than seven million copies in the USA[3] and more than 15 million copies worldwide.[4]
The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily on a continent called Westeros but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos.[5] Most of the characters are human but as the series progresses others are introduced, such as the cold and menacing supernatural Others from the far North and fire-breathing dragons from the East, both thought to be extinct by the humans of the story. There are three principal story lines in the series: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros among several competing families; the rising threat of the Others, who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros\' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years before, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne. As the series progresses, the three story lines become increasingly interwoven and dependent upon each other.