Talking to George RR Martin About HIS Favorite Book 

When you think about how far Dom has come, interviewing George R.R. Martin must feel like hitting the jackpot career-wise.

This has to be one of the craziest crossovers in existence.

It's always fascinating how a lot of these classic authors just knew each other, worked together, inspired each other. A real community.

George seems like such a down to earth, lovely guy. Thanks for sharing your interview with him, Dom!

I got to sit at dinner with George Martin when he and I were both guests at the Lucca Comics & Games convention in Italy in 2007, where he casually dropped that HBO was picking up A Song Of Ice & Fire as a TV show with a "one season per book" premise. He was the lovable old nerd that you see here in the interview, and was gracious with his time. It's why I just can't be mad about never getting to read the final books!

Aw, he looks so happy talking about books he loves, by people he loves. It's like the time Stephen Colbert was talking to Stephen King about Lord of the Rings. And such a good pitch for seeking out and reading that whole series.

Ok, this is so frickin cool. Do you all think that Dom being able to interview GRRM is due to all the good karma he must've acrewed due to reviewing and suffering through the 50 shades movies , books and due to the fact. He honestly gave twilight a chance to reappraise it honestly and not just discount it?

I have several pain syndromes. On my first visit to one pain specialist he kept asking “Well, what’s it like? Describe it to me.” He apparently didn’t like my answers because he kept asking. And asking. I finally rather snapped and brought out a long quote from one of G.R.R. Martin’s story, The Glass Flower. “What can you say about pain? Words can trace only the shadow of the thing itself. The reality of hard, sharp physical pain is like nothing else, and it is beyond language. The world is too much with us, day and night, but when we hurt, when we really hurt, the world melts and fades and becomes a ghost, a dim memory, a silly unimportant thing…” It continues. He was quiet for a bit, then asked what I had been quoting because he thought it was probably the best, rather poetic description of pain he’d ever heard. Thank you, Mr. Martin, for shutting that particular doctor up and making him actually listen to me.

Thanks for giving us George on his favorite Sci-Fi. He has such a great knowledge of the amazing 70s & 80s books, some of which have fallen out of fashion recently.

I feel like GRRM had such a good time on this, like I don't know about anybody else but somebody getting so excited about one of my favorites books would just make me happy

Omg I was obsessed with Roger Zelazny when I was younger, it almost felt like a jump scare to hear him talk about it. Absolutely wild! I can definitely see the inspiration though.

Yes! Zelazny's a huge touchstone for a bunch of us old-schoolers. I'm also a Delany fan, and always wanted to have him sign a Zelazny book.

Thank you. Roger Zelazhy's "Lord of Light" and "A Night in the Lonesome October" are almost perfect.

HOLY SHIT! This is amazing Dom! Been watching you for years and have been a part-time Patreon (when I can afford it); it's incredible to see you interacting with an author you've reviewed. I'd love to see you talk to Ransom Riggs or Rick Riordan; lets keep the R.R. thing going apparently lol

He is a very pleasant conversationalist, so chill and intelligent!

Congrats for surviving the encounter😂😂😂😂😂😂

Knowing one day George wont be with us anymore this interview is a blessing. A nice relaxed and open conversation.

I discovered your channel because of your ASoIaF/GoT comparison videos, so this is especially surreal to me. Congrats dude, you deserve to meet such literary legends.

The Amber Chronicles is my husband's favorite book series. We just watched this together. What a lovely interview! (We even named one of our kids Corwin.)

Woo! I love seeing people talk to this man, he's a treasure to talk to

Incredible Dom! Congrats on this! Youre the best!🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤

I would have passed out. He’s on my top 5 favorite authors.

Oh my gosh. Lord of Light was my favorite book when I was a teenager. I wrote fan mail to Roger Zelazny (never got an answer, darn it). Then there was this period where fantasy overtook science fiction in the publishing world - I wasn't happy, I loved Tolkein, but everyone else seemed a pale comparison - anyhow when RZ started the Amber series, I thought he was selling out, and I gave up on him. Perhaps in my old age, I should give Amber another chance. But I definitely need to get Lord of Light out and read it again. Thanks so much for this!

I love he's a Zalazny fan!! I loved the Amber series. It's been a long time. I think I should reread them!

I love the chronicles of amber ❤️ read it in middle school and still read it every few years

Holy crap Dom! I'm so happy you got this opportunity!! What a brilliant interview!

One of my very favorite authors (Roger Zelazny,) and series/books growing up late 70s and early 80s. Actually had an assignment for an English Class, to write a letter to an Author you enjoyed and say hello and let them know what you liked (and perhaps didn't) about their work. I picked Roger as I was reading the Amber series and was thoroughly loving/enjoying it ! Roger actually sent me a hand written post card from a Hyatt Regency hotel, I believe in San Francisco. He said he'd received my letter and thanked me and encouraged me continue dabbling with my own creative writing. Blew my mind as an early teen to receive a personal correspondence from him. Still most grateful for him taking the time and say hello to a young fan like myself! Wish I'd had the change to see him at a convention at some point. Wish his family the very best! And encourage any lovers of fantasy/scifi to check out the Amber series and any of the other books the George mentioned here in this fantastic interview! Thank you both for having and posting this! Much appreciated!!! 😎👍

I know it was about 30 years ago, but hearing the fondness that he talks about his friend with, I'm truly sorry he lost someone that seemed to bring out the best in both of them. I've not yet read a book by Martin, but I feel Ive learned a lot about him just from how he speaks of his friend. Also, having a writer's meetup every first Friday sounds awesome! I once had been invited by my high school English teacher (along with a few other students she'd selected) to go on a writing excursion around the city. We walked to a few locations and wrote something about the place (it could be fictional or non-fiction, whatever we wanted). Most of everyone else there were adults, so it was really cool as a "kid" getting to be around those who were older and hear their in-the-moment writing. I think after each location, we reconvened and read what we'd written. I don't really write anymore, but I too would've liked to have been a fly on the wall when Martin and the other writers were discussing ideas. Great way to fuel the creative juices, lol.

This was great! I remember bringing my Chronicles of Amber to Gencon in 1995 for Zelazny to sign then learning he had passed :( A great series!

I read the first book back in 1993 at the behest of a friend who was wanting to run an Amber DRPG campaign. Ended up staying up until I finished it and went to the library to find the next one the day after.

That's incredible Dom! Great job!

It took me a second to convince myself this was real. Just fantastic

this is such an iconic collab tbh. im smiling like an idiot watching this

DUDE! HOLY FUCK! Congrats on landing such an amazing interview!

I love listening to authors talk about there fav books and stories. It's great listening to george talk about a story he loves so much

I'm legitimately more hyped to think that Dom visited NM as cool as the interview with GRRM is. Even if you only got to see Santa Fe, I hope it treated you well and you consider a return visit! Also, another great one by Zelazny is A Night in the Lonesome October. My wife grew up with it and now we read it together every year. Would be very short to get through all at once but the chapters are broken up by days of the month so it makes a really fun read a day at a time leading up to Halloween.

Such a cool conversation! Really enjoyed hearing George's insights on 70s and 80s sci-fi/fantasy history. I had to stop partway through for spoilers since I think I want to read the books now. Thanks Dom & George!

This is so cool...good job! Have you ever considered doing Lost in adaption for the Expanse series? I'm reading the books right now and they did an amazing adaption

Bravo, Dom! You are definitely taking your channel to new places and new heights! Very well done!

I'm so glad we can see this. Such an interesting interview. Fascinating. It's ovely to see you talk about book you like. And of course its amazing to learn about all these iconic people, hear about them hunging out. George sharing these moments is so precious. So, yes, this was very interesting, touching and fun video. Thank you!

You know i think RR Martin loved this, its very rare to be interviewed by a person who loves the books and actually knows A LOT about them. Makes it more fun .

I wish people prompted George to talk more about Lord of light. It's such an underrated influence on Asoiaf

Martin's phone ringtone is so cuteee omg I didnt expected it

Ive been lucky enough to have been in community with lots of older artists and they all talk like this. Just happy to reminisce about a life time of getting to know other people who just did what they loved. Im so happy for GRRMs continued success. Maybe now ill finally read princes of amber lol.

This is so cool!!! Very interesting to see Martin within the context of a reader rather than an author!

Was not expecting him to be so chill and laid back. Seems like a nice guy.

I've loved Zelazny and his Amber books since my mom randomly bought me one of his books and, ironically, one of Samuel R Delaney's books as well, when I was 9 years old. I read them in the Russian translation first, then after moving to the US I devoured every book I could find, especially by Zelazny. My respect for Martin (and for Stephen Colbert!) just shot up into the stratosphere.

Those writer lunches sound good. And aw, he shouted out his friend Roger in his books. Oberon and the Lord of Light. Also sounds like the Linking Books in Myst.

Neil Gaiman has said that Zelazny was one of his greatest influences. I read a lot of his books when I was younger including the Amber series, well worth reading. Hillerman's books are great too, sort of a mix between a police procedural and delving into the life and folklore of the native american people of the American South West, chiefly the Navajo nation.

GRR Martin is easily my 2nd favourite author after Tolkien. Dom you are one lucky bastard.

Not three minutes in and it's already very interesting, G seems like a likeable fellow.

Always love to hear Grrrr Martin talk about books, so cool you two got to chat!

This is really great, I'm so glad for Dom that he got to meet and interview GRRM! And to get to talk to him about old scifi/fantasy, that's really fun 🤠

Omg not the "...it hasn't even been 12 years" joke 😂 I love George, he frustrates me, but I love him ❤

What the actual what?! I nearly broke the sound barrier reaching to watch this vid

Great interview. The Amber books are really great. As far as fan casting, I’ve always pictured Eric played by Alexander Skarskard. I just felt his energy fit that role of usurper If you ever get to talk to George again, you should ask about his Wild Cards anthology series. I’m kinda surprised in this super hero rich media world no one is trying to adapt the dark superhero stories partially conceived(and edited by) G.R.R. Martin.

@JamieChambers you said it wonderfully and perfectly "lovable old nerd". Also, when you hear Stephen Colbert attached to this future series in which George is giving his blessings. I am sooooo getting excited about "stick to the story" high fantasy quality work coming soon. I've watched Dom for awhile, what a joy to see this interview.

Great interview. GRRM seems to be in good spirits. That book sure would be nice.....Cheers!

This is so amazing!! Well done Dom!

I love '9 Princes'! I read it ...when it was new - and never realized he wrote more in the series. Since he wrote so many stand-alone novels this did not surprise me. Then I found out and was delighted. The 5 Corwin books are still some of my favorites. I adored this episode of the book club!

Zelazney was definitely one of the GOATs of fantasy, of the more weird, philosophical sort. One of the things that they did not mention, but ties directly into Zelazney's fascination with mythologies, just as Amber is the blueprint for all other reality, so are its scions archetypes for literary characters. And both Corwin and Merlin are protagonist archetypes. But, what is really, really cool, is that once you realize that and start rereading, you actually witness their transition along the protag axis. And, yes, I intentionally put in protagonist, rather than heroic archetypes.

This is so cool!!! Definitely going to read that book now btw. If it's a recommendation from GRR himself! It was an awesome experience.

The pleasure of finding that Mr Martin loves Amber too. ps read George's vampire novel, Fevre Dream.

This was wonderful! Thank you for sharing this with us! 🤍🤍✨️

Not only do I recognise that book just by the cover illustration (Nine Princes in Amber), but I already knew it was his favorite book. P.S. "currently being developed by Kirkman for tv" is a nice euphemism for "has been stuck in development hell for more than a decade". I ain't holding my breath on that one.

GRRM is literally one of the best authors! I must say i had a pretty good laugh when his phone went off hehe

I’d love to hear the story behind this: how did you get to this amazing opportunity? Congratulations, by the way 😁 keep up the amazing content ❤

How cool that you were able to do this interview!

Doorways In the Sand is very fun. But Lord of Light is certainly Zelazny's best. And pleasantly complex for one of his, in both its structure and plot. Oh, and for those familiar with the film Argo...about getting out of Tehran the US citizens stuck in the Canadian's consul's house ...in reality what they told the Iranians was that they were making a film of Lord of Light. It's a shame that Zelazny was never able to know that.

This was incredible Dom! I love you and your tenacity so much;🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Hearth please❤❤❤❤❤❤

It's crazy to see Dominic Noble meeting George RR Martin and that's really cool

Zelazny's Amber is great. The two novels I think everyone should read at least once in their lifetime are The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.

My first encounter with Amber was through the Amber Diceless RPG - at university, the RPG society ran a one-shot throne war, and I ended up looking up the books later - I've got 8 of them (a single volume edition of the Corwin cycle and three of the Merlin ones). Amber Diceless is worth checking out if you're into pen-and-paper RPGs, and can track down a copy somewhere - no doubt it's been iterated on since, but it was an early diceless system.

❤ I'm so excited to watch this interview!

WOW! Good job Dom!

This is so cool Dom!! Great interview ❤

I can' believe Dominic Noble actually me George R. R. Marin, the really is a treasure to talk to.

In so excited to finally see this interview! My nephew had some close interactions with Mr George about the time he transferred to the Art & Design College or a similar school in Santa Fe studying theatre, and may have had some early involvement in Game of Thrones &/or the Jean Cocteau Theater. He has since graduated from St John's College and spent some tome in France, Italy, & at least one other European country. I'm a writer living in Albuquerque, and wish I had gotten involved in those First Friday groups at the Albuquerque Press Club. I was never able to twist my schedule appropriately. Had I known that Mr George had been involved, I surely would have twisted much harder! Everything i learn about you helps me like and admire you more! Thank you for everything you've given to this state, this profession, and this world. Thanks also for being an entirely human entity.

Aww he seems so sweet in person! I'm very jealous ❤

MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

OK, this is one of those moments where one thinks "Wow, I have made some awesome life choices."

So proud, Dom! ❤️

What a fantastic opportunity and interview!! I've never been a GoT fan (book or show) but couldn't NOT watch such a baller guest, and I really enjoyed listening to his stories about the fantasy & sci fi authors of that age.

I totally agree with his view on "Lords of Light", it may well be my favorite book by Zelasny... and I've red the Ambre cycle. "Let's do a story about the Hindu gods, Buddha, Hindu demons... oh and a christian guy. - Sounds like a cool fantasy novel. - No no no, it's science fiction. All the godly powers, and reincarnation, are powered by science ! - Wait, what ?"

Congrats!! This is so cool!!!

This is a fantastic interview, and I highly recommend Lord of Light along with the Chronicles of Amber. Also, honorable mention to Eye of Cat. All great books. :-D

Everyone shoud read Nine Princes in Amber. The first chapter completely locks you in. It's awesome.

Omg! I have this memory of a book I read in my childhood (I was the kid who read everything I could get my hands on at the library) about a man who travelled through worlds, and that he at some point was a prisoner and they burnt away his eyes, but that they slowly grew back over time. And I have been low key wondering which book that was, or if I somehow made it up? because I have remembered details from it all my life. And here it is! Told to me by George R. R. Martin! What are the freaking odds? Now I have to find and read the whole series! Because I definitely didn’t do that before.

Well done Dom!! Great interview ^^

I was so floored seeing this in my subscriptions! My fave author my fave RU-vidr. I love it.

I know many despise him but he seems chill and down to earth guy

Oh my god!!!! I'm just chillin watching some random vids and THIS pops up???

Om so happy that you’ve gotten such an amazing opportunity!

The Amber books are great! Thanks for the interview.

wow what an achievement Dom! well done 😊

This George fella seems really nice. Really humble too. I hope he finds fame one day

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? The beginning makes it seem you just put Clips together that make it seem, like you talk to Martin. Nice!

I swear for the longest time, I thought Martin hailed from Britain. Not sure why.

George R.R. Martin interview! Wow Dom. You're doing great!!! He is such a cool guy always ready to chat about books, I hope he stays around happy and healthy for along time coming. ❤

I think a good question to ask each guest would be. How often do you read, where do you read (in bed, office, couch, coffee shop, etc) I'm always amassed how much he reads and how he finds the time