I like grey characters; fantasy for too long has been focused on very stereotypical heroes and villains.
George R. R. MartinTrue knights protect the weak.โ He snorted. โThere are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you canโt protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, donโt ever believe any different.โ Sansa backed away from him. โYouโre awful.โ โIโm honest. Itโs the world thatโs awful.
George R. R. MartinA lot of fantasy names are too much. Theyโre too difficult to pronounce. I wanted the flavour of medieval England. I took actual names we still use today, like โRobertโ, and in some case I tweaked them a little bit. I made โEdwardโ into โEddardโ. If you look back at medieval times, no one knew how to spell their own names. There are a lot of variations that weโve lost.
George R. R. MartinThis is not Winterfell', he told him as he cut his meat with fork and dagger. 'On the Wall, a man gets only what he earns. You're no ranger, Jon, only a green boy with the smell of summer still on you.
George R. R. Martin