Martin was the prolific creator of short fiction in the 1970s, and won many Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards before he began to turn his attention to novels late in the decade. Although good deal of his operate is fantasy or even horror, the total of his earliest works come science fiction occurring around a loosely-defined future history.

In the 1980s he turned to work inside television & as an editor. In television, he worked on the newly Twilight Zone series, when well as Beauty and the Beast. As an editor, he oversaw a extended Wild Cards cycle, which took place around the shared universe in which an alien virus bestowed strange powers or even disfigurements in the slice of humanity in the period of World War II, affecting a history of the globe thenceforth (the assumption was mayhap inspired by comic book superheroes). Contributors to the Untamed Cards series involved Stephen Leigh, Lewis Shiner, Howard Waldrop, Walter Jon Williams and Roger Zelazny. His have contributions to the series typically featured Thomas Tudbury, "The Great and Powerful Turtle," a right psychokinetic who used VW Beetles as armor.

Martin's short story of a equivalent title was adapted into the feature film Nightflyers (1987).

Inside 1996 Martin returned to writing novel-length stories, beginning his lengthy period A Song of Ice and Fire (ostensibly inspired per Wars of the Roses), to great critical plaudits.

Themes

Martin's function is seldom upbeat. His foremost novel, Death of the Weak, sets the tone for his new operate; these are attack a mostly abandoned globe that is slowly becoming drop when it moves out of its sun. This story, & numerous of Martin's others, have a hard feel of melancholy. His characters come typically unhappy, or even at least unsatisfied.

His characters come too multi-many-sided, every sustaining amazingly intricate pasts, inspirations, & ambitions. There are no of these is given an unrealistic string of luck, potentially then, so misfortune, injury, & dying (& even faithlessly demise) may befall any character, disregardless how else connected a reader has turn into. A few of his characters come tragical heroes, meaning it own traits that enevitably lead to their downfall. __NOTOC__

Bibliography
Novels
Dying of the Light (1977) Windhaven (1981, with Lisa Tuttle) Fevre Dream (1982) The Armageddon Rag (1983) ''Dead Man's Hand (1990, with John J. Miller)

A Song of Ice and Fire cycle: A Game of Thrones (1996) A Clash of Kings (1999) A Storm of Swords (2000) A Feast for Crows (2005) A Dance with Dragons (forthcoming) The Winds of Winter (forthcoming)

Collections
A Song for Lya (1976) Songs of Stars and Shadows (1977) Sandkings (1981) Songs the Dead Men Sing (1983) Nightflyers (1985) Tuf Voyaging (1987, collection of linked stories) Portraits of His Children (1987) Quartet (2001) GRRM: A Rretrospective (2003)

Uncollected short fiction

Wild Cards (as editor)
Untamed Cards We (1987) Uncivilized Cards Deuce: Aces High (1987) Untamed Cards Deuce-ace: Jokers Untamed (1987) Uncivilized Cards IV: Aces Overseas (1988) Uncivilized Cards V: Down & Dirty (1988) Untamed Cards VI: Ace in the Hole (1990) Uncivilized Cards VII: Dead Human's Hand (1990) Uncivilized Cards Eighter from decatur: 1-Eyed Jacks (1991) Uncivilized Cards Nina from carolina: Jokertown Shuffle (1991) Untamed Cards X: Double Solitaire (1992) Untamed Cards XI: Dealer's Selection (1992) Uncivilized Cards 12: Turn of the Cards (1993)

Uncivilized Cards: Cardsharper (1993) Uncivilized Cards: Marked Cards (1994) Uncivilized Cards: Black Trump'' (1995) (these three books come the trilogy)

Awards
"A Song for Lya" (1974) Hugo "Sandkings" (1979) Hugo and Nebula "The Way of Cross and Dragon" (1979) Hugo "Portraits of His Children" (1985) Nebula