George R. R. Martin
A GAME OF THRONES
Copyright
An imprint of HarperCollins
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Previously published in paperback by Voyager 1998, 2003, 2011
First published in Great Britain by Voyager 1996
Copyright © George R. R. Martin 1996
Cover layout design © HarperCollins
Cover photographs © Bernados / Plainpicture. Philipp Guenther / Gallery Stock (sky)
George R. R. Martin asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780002245845
Ebook Edition © April 2012 ISBN: 9780007378425
Version: 2018-10-25
Praise for
‘This is one of those rare and effortless reads. ’
‘George R. R. Martin is one of our very best writers, and this is one of his very best books. ’
‘Such a splendid tale. I read my eyes out – I couldn’t stop till I’d finished and it was dawn. ’
‘George R. R.
Martin is assuredly a new master craftsman in the guild of heroic fantasy. ’‘Few created worlds are as imaginative and diverse. ’
Dedication
MAPS
PROLOGUE
“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead. ”
“Do the dead frighten you?” Ser Waymar Royce asked with just the hint of a smile.
Gared did not rise to the bait. He was an old man, past fifty, and he had seen the lordlings come and go. “Dead is dead,” he said. “We have no business with the dead. ”
“Are they dead?” Royce asked softly. “What proof have we?”
“Will saw them,” Gared said. “If he says they are dead, that’s proof enough for me. ”
Will had known they would drag him into the quarrel sooner or later. He wished it had been later rather than sooner. “My mother told me that dead men sing no songs,” he put in.
“My wet nurse said the same thing, Will,” Royce replied. “Never believe anything you hear at a woman’s tit. There are things to be learned even from the dead. ” His voice echoed, too loud in the twilit forest.
“We have a long ride before us,” Gared pointed out. “Eight days, maybe nine. And night is falling. ”