A GAME OF THRONES at 30

In May 1996, eager fantasy fans in the UK hit their local bookstore to pick up the seventh and latest Wheel of Time novel in hardcover. Robert Jordan's giga-series ruled the roost in fantasy sales, only beaten in the UK by homegrown legend Terry Pratchett and his Discworld saga (which had two entries in 1996, Pratchett not being one to hang around). But fans picking up the brick-thick tome could also pick up something else: a preview booklet for a new novel arriving later that year. The preview booklet even had a Robert Jordan back cover quote: "A Game of Thrones grabs hold and won't let go!" proclaimed Jordan. "It's brilliant!" he added, possibly redundantly.Arriving in the first week of August 1996 (release dates being a window rather than a specific date at that point, especially for the first book in a new series by an author who was not a household name), A Game of Thrones was George R.R. Martin's first solo novel for thirteen years. That novel, the supernatural rock and roll…