“Game of Thrones” Creator George R.R. Martin: Saratoga is “a Terrific Town”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” the latest TV installment of the ever-growing “Game of Thrones” cinematic universe, premiered on Sunday to largely positive reviews. Author George R.R. Martin, who penned the novellas that served as the show’s source material, seemed delighted with the finished product.

But Martin, for well over a decade, has been constantly pulled in different directions, tasked with overseeing multiple film and TV projects while also chipping away at several long-overdue books. His busy schedule has been a source of frustration for the acclaimed fantasy author, who lamented in 2015 that he would be unable to return to Saratoga Springs.

In 2007, Martin was in the Spa City for the World Fantasy Convention (WFC), held at the City Center on Nov. 1-4. According to a pair of blog posts he wrote, Saratoga seemed to make a lasting impression on him.

In one March 2015 post, Martin announced that his packed calendar would prevent him from attending that year’s WFC in Saratoga. But he said that at the 2007 convention, he “had a great time. A terrific town, a wonderful con.”

A few months later, Martin again expressed regret over missing the 2015 event. “The last WFC in Saratoga was great fun, and I loved the city, and the train ride up the Hudson from NYC,” he wrote.

It would seem Martin made some lasting memories while here in Saratoga. In a 2022 conversation with fellow novelist David Anthony Durham, Martin reminisced about the first time they met, at the 2007 WFC.

“He displayed his courage because we were doing a mass autographing where all the authors sit all around the ballroom, and people line up to do them, and he was told by all his friends not to sit beside me,” Martin recalled. “But he did sit beside me anyway. A fearless fellow, and then we got to talking.”

The WFC hasn’t been held in the Spa City since 2015. Last year it was in England. In 2014, it took place in Niagara Falls.