If you were to trace the significant moments in the illustrious career of George R.R. Martin, the renowned author known for creating the captivating world of “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon,” you would have to include his unconventional interpretation of “The Pit and the Pendulum” back in high school.
Martin, the genius behind the shocking demise of Ned Stark in the “Game of Thrones” saga, revisited a pivotal period in his literary journey during a panel session at Seattle Worldcon 2025, a prestigious science-fiction convention concluding today.
The spark for his story was ignited when fellow sci-fi writer Isabel J. Kim mentioned that a friend’s father had shared a 1966 yearbook from Martin’s high school, hoping the 76-year-old author would add a fresh signature over his class photo.
The audience chuckled at the contrast between the youthful face in the yearbook photo and Martin’s current bearded appearance, yet the sight of the yearbook triggered memories of his school days for Martin.
“I believe my life was altered by a high-school English course,” he reflected. “I had an English teacher who once assigned a task – I think it was in my junior year. We were studying ‘Pit and the Pendulum’ by Edgar Allan Poe. The teacher declared, ‘Well, your assignment this week is to write a better ending for ‘Pit and the Pendulum.” Which is, undoubtedly, one of the ultimate deus ex machinas in English literature.”
In Martin’s revised ending, the French army doesn’t arrive to rescue the narrator. “I penned an ending where he wasn’t rescued, where the pendulum bisected him, and the rats descended to devour his eyeballs,” Martin revealed.
The response from his classmates was overwhelmingly positive. “Everyone enjoyed it,” Martin reminisced. “I thought, maybe I could pursue this writing endeavor.”
“And that’s how Ned Stark came into being!” acclaimed author John Scalzi jokingly interjected.
Naturally, the road to stardom was a lengthy one. Following college, Martin served as a journalism instructor for a brief period before venturing into crafting scripts for “The Twilight Zone” and other television shows. Despite his diverse endeavors, Martin continued to weave science fiction and fantasy narratives, occasionally employing the same narrative devices he experimented with in high school. Thus, a literary luminary was born.
During a separate Worldcon panel, Martin acknowledged J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” as a significant influence on his own fantasy writing. He recalled a pivotal moment in Tolkien’s tale where the wizard Gandalf seemingly met his demise.
“Now, I understand. Gandalf was resurrected,” Martin noted. “Personally, I would have kept him deceased. However, that’s a conversation for J.R.R. and me to have later on. I still hold Tolkien in high regard, and his influence was undeniably profound. As a reader, I gravitate towards narratives that challenge me. I relish unexpected twists and turns.”
Here are some other intriguing highlights from Worldcon:
- George R.R. Martin has maintained a veil of secrecy regarding the progress on completing the “Songs of Ice and Fire” series that commenced with the publication of “Game of Thrones” in 1996. However, a fantasy enthusiast reportedly broached the topic during a Worldcon Q&A session on Friday. According to attendee reports and a video shared on YouTube, the individual expressed concerns about Martin’s longevity and pondered the possibility of another author concluding the series. These comments were met with disapproval. (Regrettably, I was among those unable to attend the session due to full seating.)
- Martha Wells expressed astonishment at the reception to the Apple TV+ adaptation of her “Murderbot Diaries” books. “I never anticipated that my modest robot narrative would resonate with audiences,” she confessed during a recording session for the Ink to Film podcast. Initially, Wells intended to conclude Murderbot’s story in the first novella with its demise. However, as she delved into the narrative, she decided against “I don’t want to kill off this character.” Wells also divulged that exploring a robot’s discomfort with social interactions led her to contemplate the possibility of having ADHD or falling on the autism spectrum. “It was quite a revelation for me,” she admitted.
- John Scalzi delved into the inception of his award-winning novel “Redshirts,” a satirical take on Star Trek conventions that garnered him a Hugo Award in 2012. He revealed that the book stemmed from his frustration over an unscientific soliloquy delivered by Mr. Spock in the 2009 “Star Trek” film. “The sheer laziness of the writing exhibited by Spock motivated me to craft a narrative on lazy writing and its repercussions on those ensnared by it,” Scalzi explained. “Remarkably mundane occurrences can inspire a Hugo-winning novel.”
- David Brin, a visionary who foresaw contemporary concerns regarding surveillance and privacy in his 1998 nonfiction work “The Transparent Society,” disclosed that he is presently engaged in writing a book on artificial intelligence and its potential societal impacts. “I firmly believe that certain dreadful clichés are clung to by some of the geniuses ushering in this new era,” he remarked. Brin lauded the launch of a novel web platform, TASAT.org, designed to aid tech experts and planners by aligning their real-world challenges with science fiction plot twists. TASAT stands for “There’s a Story About That.”
