Martin: Space is an incredible setting for a horror story because you are isolated. So much of contemporary science fiction mixes those now, at least from what I’ve seen. “Nightflyers” was one of those that came out of the ’70s and early ’80s when I was on that kick. And when I read that I said, “Well! I’ll see about that.” Martin: Around 1978 or ’79 I was reading some science fiction criticism by a writer doing history of the genre, but he put forward the theory that science fiction and horror were opposites - they were fundamentally incompatible, you couldn’t blend them. George, tell the story of when you were challenged. We didn’t set out just to make science fiction, it was science fiction and horror. The story, in a nutshell, is making contact with an alien life form and that is such a powerful idea. It allows us to raise certain moral dilemmas or certain questions, like whether or not colonization is the answer, or should we apply our intellect or technology to fixing the earth? So we have characters that exist within George’s story that then become mouthpieces for these debates. Is that part of “Nightflyers” as well?īuhler: The story takes place in a world that is much like ours. Some of the story elements in “Game of Thrones” have an allegorical component that reflect modern life. People often ask, “Oh, are you going to kill off our favorite character, are you going to do these things that we recognize as part of what has become a brand or a style of storytelling?” And the fact is that none of those things matter without a well-drawn world, without well-drawn characters, without that conflict. It cuts across all genres and forms, I don’t care if you’re doing a police show or if you’re doing a science fiction show in deep space or a fantasy with dragons.īuhler: I think that’s what gives rise to those elements of storytelling that people now associate with George. I often quote Faulkner, who in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech said the human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about.

Martin: The other thing that is important to me is the characters. I think “Nightflyers” the novella has some of that, and I think these guys are capturing some of that. I try to take my readers by surprise, not to just do the same story they’ve done a thousand times before. I don’t like television or books or movies that are too predictable. Martin: Hopefully they’ll find, number one, surprises. Will fans of “Game of Thrones” find something familiar in “Nightflyers”? So even in that case I’m not as involved.īut hopefully I can still exert some sort of influence on some of these, and it’s a case of trusting your babies to people you hope will raise them right and not abuse them. … I visited the set once or twice a year in the early years but I haven’t done that in a number of years, I’m trying to get the books done. Even on “Game of Thrones,” David Benioff and Weiss are the showrunners.

Nightflyers george martin