gulyssea

Author unknown to the general public ten years ago, the creator of the “Game of Thrones” universe, has become a late superstar.

We are in 1991. A famous American writer, failing to have known an enormous commercial success, is working on a science fiction novel of which he already holds the title, "Avalon". While he is thinking about his plot, an image from nowhere is embedded in his mind: a child witnesses a beheading, then he finds a dead wolf in the snow ... Not very science fiction, as a vision, but it haunts our author, who decides to embroider around.

It takes him well: the novelist is called George RR Martin, and he publishes five years later the first volume of one of the greatest literary successes of all time, "The Iron Throne", a saga sold to more 85 million copies worldwide (including 4 in France, all editions combined). And above all brilliantly adapted into a TV series under the name "Game of Thrones" (GOT). The soap opera of all records: the first episode of the 8th and final season, broadcast on Sunday April 21 in the United States - and on the night from Sunday to Monday on OCS in France - was seen by 17.4 million spectators across the Atlantic, and hacked 55 million times around the world, according to UK big data company Muso!

What does George Raymond Richard Martin think of this frenzy? Nobody knows. The American, who will celebrate his 71th birthday next September, is currently rather silent, and for good reason. "He is locked up by his agent," assures his French editor, Florence Lottin, director at Pygmalion. He is working on The Winds of Winter, the next volume of Game of Thrones, which is expected to follow since 2011. The text should have been completed in 2015, and he has already sold the rights to publishers around the world. Martin has already touched a first part of the negotiated advance. The whole world has already bought the book, but there is no book! »

READ ALSO> 2006-2011: at the beginning of the “Game of Thrones” series

“He is in an isolated house, so that no one disturbs him while he is writing, adds Thibaud Eliroff, collection director at J'ai Lu. He has Internet , but he cuts it. He has the phone, but he can only use it one day a week. It is the routine to which he binds himself, no one forces him. He only comes down every three weeks to manage day-to-day business, see his assistants and his agent. »

Four major awards between 1975 and 1977

The price of fame for a writer who had never expected to achieve such fame. Because, before the new millennium, the name of George RR Martin had not gone beyond the restricted circle of lovers of genre literature. “He has led very respectable careers as a writer in science fiction, horror, fantasy […], writes of him a renowned author in the United States, Gardner Dozois in the introduction to the colossal anthology dedicated to Martin and baptized "RR Etrospective" * (the double R fulfills a double function: it is a nod to John RR Tolkien, the greatest author of fantasy, but also a way to differentiate himself from another famous George Martin , The Beatles Producer).

“Its success in each of these fields of activity would satisfy many professionals… who could boast of it as a work of a lifetime,” continues Dozois. But no, George, that greedy bastard, made it his business to achieve preeminence in all these areas! This is evidenced by four Hugo prizes (the Nobel for science fiction), which were awarded to him between 1975 and 1997, two Nebula prizes (awarded by American science fiction writers), or no less than 16 Locus prizes (from name of a leading American monthly)…

Not bad for a little kid from Bayonne (in New Jersey, not in the Basque Country!), born in 1948, who dreamed of becoming… a sports journalist. "He comes from a very modest background, underlines the translator and specialist of the writer Pierre-Paul Durastanti, who coordinated a special Martin issue, out of print, of the specialist magazine" Bifrost ", in 2012". His father was a dock worker, he is one of the rare proles of American science fiction, because the authors generally come from the upper middle class. But as he couldn't find a job after graduating, he turned to literature. He wrote his first novel at the end of the 1970s, after having delivered several dozen short stories. He was quickly recognized for his short texts.

"Despiteits early success, despite literary awards, Martin often draws the devil by the tail. Short texts earn little, and his novels do not sell very well. He is very affected by the failure in 1983 of "Armageddon Rag", a book that tells the odyssey, in an atmosphere bordering on the fantastic, of a rock group. A masterpiece praised by critics, but which does not find its audience. Martin then agrees to work for a sector that pays well, television. He wrote several episodes of the remake of “Twilight zone” (“The Fifth dimension” in France), as well as of the first serial adaptation of “Beauty and the beast”.

He therefore knows the world of television well, and will also sign four “Game of Thrones” scenarios, one per season, at the start of the series. He will also agree to appear in an episode of the zombie TV series "Z Nation", in 2015: he plays his own role, or almost, since he plays a zombie who continues, despite his condition, to sign mechanically. autographs!

Martin also appeared in the first pilot of "Games of thrones", refused by the HBO channel in 2009 because too bad. On the other hand, he declined the invitation to pass in front of the camera for the eighth season of GOT, preferring to avoid a long trip to the studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The influence of the "Cursed Kings"

The incredible success of the "Iron Throne", the first volume of which was published in the United States in 1996, two years later in France, finally provides George Martin with financial ease. From his vision of a child and a wolf, the writer draws a first novel of several hundred pages, with various sources of inspiration.

“There are two major ones, decrypts Pierre-Paul Durastanti: the War of the Roses (Editor's note: which ravaged England from 1455 to 1485), and Les Rois maudits, by Maurice Druon. " “ The Cursed Kings had a huge influence on me, ” Martin confirmed to us in 2014, during an interview given in the catacombs of Paris. Moreover, I had the pride to play a small part in their reissue in English. »Martin remains modest: thanks to him, the last volume, never translated across the Atlantic, is finally, while this new American edition is decorated with a preface that he signs…

Passionate about history and small soldiers lead

To say that Martin is a history buff is an understatement. While in Dijon in July 2014, he amazes the elected officials of the city: he knows the genealogy of the Dukes of Burgundy better than they do! A passion that translates into compulsive shopping. “When I am in a foreign country, I always try to acquire history books, he told us in 2014. The problem is that I only read English…” Martin is also a big collector little toy soldiers. “When he came to Paris, we found him THE specialist shop where he could do his shopping,” recalls Thibaud Eliroff. "He has two houses, one of which just to put all his figurines, and those of his wife, who collects Harry Potter," adds Florence Lottin.

Now residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a western American state, George RR Martin leads a discreet life there, but does not play hermits either, with his wife Parris McBride, a longtime companion he married in 2011. “He bought a local cinema, the Jean-Cocteau, where he plays the films he likes, completely outside the usual Hollywood programming, explains Thibaud Eliroff. He drives a Tesla electric car, and he's super proud of it. Like any self-respecting science fiction writer, he has an ecological conscience. And he is very interested in American football.

""He has created a young authors aid organization, is involved in a lot of causes, "adds Florence Lottin. In 2014, he gave a boost to a fundraising for the benefit of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, a refuge for wolves: he offered to donors to offer them autographed books, a personality thank you on video or, for that. able to line up 20,000 dollars, the joy of seeing a character named after him die, probably in excruciating pain, in his next Game ofsaga Thrones !

READ ALSO> "Fire and Blood": once upon a time before "Game of Thrones"

Despite the glory, Martin does not take the big head, the opinions are unanimous. "When he came to France in 2014, we were invited to make him a guard of honor in Dijon," says Patricia Auneau, 33-year-old statistician, president of the fan association La Garde de nuit and one of the administrators of the site of the same name. We had a front row seat when he arrived, with swords and costumes. He was amazed by the welcome, not at all jaded. Then, we were able to have our books signed individually, and we were treated to a small private meeting. When you said thank you for your books, he said thank you for reading my books. »

At the time, received as a head of state by the elected officials of Dijon, after the invitation launched by the local bookstore Grangier, Martin had extended his presence on site by several hours, so as not to leave a single fan without dedication.

"I think he totally deserves the fame and the awards he receives," says Robin Hobb, author of several fantasy cycles, such as 'The Royal Assassin', and perhaps one of the few who can compete in terms of sales with Martin. “Like many writers, it took him several years to achieve success. I have dined several times with George RR Martin, and been his guest at the launch of a book in his cinema. I would describe him as a kind and engaging person. He always seems interested in the people he meets. "

" He has a very healthy way of managing fame, assures Thibaud Eliroff. When he is recognized in a train station or an airport, he talks with people, it is his assistant who calms the ardor. Martin is a fan himself, he has scoured conventions to meet the authors who made him dream, he was in line to get his books signed ”. “Every writer dreams of writing something that will be remembered by the author in 2014 in our columns. It's good to be known, but you realize that it's something that you have no control over. You sign contracts for a publication in Persian or Mongolian. That is cool. But you can no longer go to a restaurant, or cross an airport without being stopped for a photo or signing an autograph ”.

Pizzerias rather than starred restaurants

On the restaurant side, don't look for Martin at a starred one. “When he came to France in 2014, we invited him to great tables. After a few days he told us, you know, I'm a peasant. He meant by that that he has simple tastes. He was happy to go to great gourmet restaurants, but that was not his world at all. So afterwards, we scoured the pizzerias! »Thibaud Eliroff still laughs.

From his refuge, does Martin watch the episodes of "Game of Thrones"? No doubt not, he has already seen them, the producers of the series have shown them to him in his cinema. But they must sound like a permanent reminder to him that, unlike the soap opera which is only four episodes from its end, his great literary work is far from over ...