A Game of Thrones is an epic fantasy novel by American author George R. R. Martin. It was published in August 1996 as the first entry in his series A Song of Ice and Fire. It was Martin's fourth novel and his return to writing prose fiction after a long period working in television. He had the initial idea in 1991 while writing science fiction; he wrote a hundred pages and submitted them to his agent, originally planning the novel as a trilogy. It was inspired by history, particularly the Middle Ages, and fantasy fiction.