George R. R. Martin Historic Quotations

Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', as historical fiction about history that never happened, flavoured with a dash of sorcery and spiced with dragons. I take that as a compliment.

Historical fiction is not history. You're blending real events and actual historical personages with characters of your own creation.

You always try to do your own thing. One of the things I wanted to do was to write a book that combines some of the best traits of contemporary fantasy with some of the traits of the historical novel.

I have always regarded historical fiction and fantasy as sisters under the skin, two genres separated at birth.

As much as I love historical fiction, my problem with historical fiction is that you always know what's going to happen.