So as cold and death filled the earth, the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancient magics could win back what the armies of men had lost. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. For years he searched, until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities. One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog, and his sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it. And the Others smelled the hot blood in him, and came silent on his trail, stalking him with packs of pale white spiders big as hounds...

背景介紹:

《權力的游戲》是一部中世紀史詩奇幻題材的電視連續劇。該劇以美國作家喬治·R·R·馬丁的奇幻巨作《冰與火之歌》七部曲為基礎改編創作，由大衛·貝尼奧夫和丹尼爾·威斯編劇、HBO電視網推出。喬治·雷蒙德·理查德·馬丁是歐美奇幻小說大師。馬丁的作品主要以人物為關注點，描寫細膩豐富，突破了幻想文學界固有的創作模式，多次引領閱讀潮流。由于馬丁的輝煌成就，他被譽為美國的托爾金和新世紀的海明威。從1989年開始，馬丁淡出文學界，轉而投身演藝界發展，1996年他才重返文壇而開始奇幻文學的創作，處女作便是《權力的游戲》，即為《冰與火之歌》的首部曲。《權力的游戲》甫出便拿下了British Fantasy Society、 世界奇幻獎和星云獎年度最佳幻想作品提名，在非官方的不記名奇幻作品投票中，《冰與火之歌》儼然已經可以和《魔戒》平起平坐，作者網站的訪問量也是和斯蒂芬·金、J.K.羅琳等不相上下，其受歡迎的程度可見一斑。喬治馬丁被時代雜志評選為2011年影響世界的一百人之一。