George R.R. Martin does n’t just ruthlessly murder your pet A Song of Ice and Fire type with reckless abandon . He also … accidentally killed a caboodle of best-loved turtles as a kid ?

The flaky story is one told by Martin himself at a late speech he gave while being inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame . Martin recounted the experience on hisno - long - a - livejournalNot a Blog , discussing the early days of his committal to writing life history and his inspirations . In a sincerely bizarre aside however , he briefly mentioned one of the former inspirations behind the bloodlust that drives Game of Thrones ’ tale of murder and courtly intrigues : the fact that he kept a lot of preferent turtles as a Thomas Kid , and was really bad at keep them awake .

“ I had a toy dog castling , ” Martin told the interview . “ that was big enough for [ two turtle bowls ] in the court , so I put two turtle bowls side by side in my castle … the thing was , dime bag store turtle do n’t experience very long . I do n’t cerebrate the food they give you — the slight shaker of turtle food — were really very alimental . So my turtle were always dying , which broke my heart , and I had to come up with some explanation as to why they were dying . ”

Please enjoy the Kit Harington photobomb in the background of this shot of Martin at the IMDB After the Emmys party this past September.

Please enjoy the Kit Harington photobomb in the background of this shot of Martin at the IMDB After the Emmys party this past September.Photo: Rich Polk / Stringer (Getty Images)

Martin ’s answer ? Not malnutrition , but a grand tale of turtle turf war , nobles and heroes vying for controller of his miniature rook ’s parapet . “ So I decided they were murdering each other , ” the writer joked . “ They live in a palace , and obviously they were knights and kings , and princes , and they were competing for the turtle throne so they were slay each other . Long before Game of Thrones , Turtle Castle was one of my first Fantasy epos . ”

https://gizmodo.com/george-r-r-martin-remarks-on-the-lord-of-the-rings-dea-1828263675

Martin usually lodge to simply talking about how the War of the Roses provided the actual historic intake for A Song of Ice and Fire ( orsometimes Gandalf ) , so this sidestep into turtle slaying is … a draw ? It ’s a lot . But hey : It kinda makes sensory faculty that a man who savour in contract a tongue to his characters has long had a fascination forexplaining untimely deaths , be they turn turtle or otherwise .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

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BooksFantasyGame of ThronesGeorge R.R. Martin

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