Much like in real life, Martin's world is full of complex politics and family drama, against a backdrop of ancient myth and legend. So here are just a few of the bloody, true stories from history that went into the making of the Game of Thrones books. Martin just cranks them up to eleven and adds dragons. He believes that all fantasy is historical fantasy, to some extent, and most of the major arcs in A Song of Ice and Fire are pulled straight from English history. Maester Martin isn't hiding this, either: he's said that ' fantasy and historical novels are twins,' in his opinion. you've got a pretty spot on map of Westeros. I mean, if you make Ireland a little bigger, flip it around, and stick it to the bottom of England. Martin's fantasy epic borrows heavily from European history.
