George R.R. Martin on the importance of research in fantasy fiction

As he’s buckled down to work on The Winds of Winter, George R.R. Martin has made fewer and fewer appearances at conventions over the past few years. One exception he always makes is Worldcon, a science fiction and fantasy convention that’s been running since 1939. Just lately, Orkcleaver TV posted an interesting interview he did at the 2017 Worldcon in Helsinki, where he talks about everything from his role-playing experiences to Song of Ice and Fire translation mishaps and more. Settle in and have a watch:

Some of the highlights:

• Starting at 1:13, Martin talks about the very interesting origins of the Wild Cards series of books he edits. It ends up many of the characters in there were made up by him and his writer buddies during role-playing game sessions. But not Dungeons & Dragons; he doesn’t go in for that stuff.
• At 11:55, a little girl shows off her completely adorable homemade George R.R. Martin puppet. It has a little fake copy of The Winds of Winter. It’s so cute I can’t stand it.
• Also part of the panel discussion is Werner Fuchs, who publishes the German translations of Martin’s books through Fantasy Productions. At 18:15, Martin remembers when he complained about a German cover for one of the Song of Ice and Fire books; I’m honestly not sure which one this is. “Das Erbe von Winterfell” translates roughly to “The Heritage of Winterfell,” which…In any case, I take Martin’s point about it being extremely out of step with his story.

• At 26:35, Martin is asked dispel the myth that because their stories take place in made-up worlds, fantasy authors don’t have to do research. He is up to the task. “Well, bad fantasy writers don’t do any research, but I do a great deal of research.”

"There are fans out there who will call you in make any mistake. So you have to know about the architecture of castles, and the difference between a trebuchet and a catapult, and a crossbow and a longbow, and what kind of fabrics they used on medieval clothing, and when the zipper was invented. Hint: not the Middle Ages."

The research shows.

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