53. Game of Thrones

“I also think you can't get away from Tolkien. I mean, Tolkien is the person who basically invents high fantasy, or at least popularises it.”

“George R.R. Martin starts writing these books in sort of the early to mid-1990s, reflecting on historical events and their impact on the narrative.”

“I've just been reading Chaucer. Chaucer, of course, is always associated with bawdy and people having sex and people sticking arses out of windows.”

“The great dramatic cycle that tells the story of the Wars of the Roses is Shakespeare's history plays.”

“So in the Wife of Bath's tale, that rape is punished. The whole dynamic of the plot revolves around his attempt to avoid being executed for committing rape.”

“In the knight's tale, the whole thing is that you have two brother knights who spend years, both hankering after the same lady.”

“Tolkien is writing in a much higher...”

“The speaker mentions that Prince Andrew is a big fan of their book 'State of Emergency' about the Ted Heathiers.”

“Judith Heron writes about Gallop Placidia in her book, Ravenna, where she parallels her story to that of Daenerys Targaryen.”

“Philip Pullman is mentioned as the anti-Narnia, contrasting his work with that of Tolkien.”

“Martin said that his inspiration was a series of French novels set in the 13th, early 14th century, specifically mentioning 'Les Rois maudits'.”

“He wrote a book about it. He knew better than anybody.”