This introduction situates A Game of Thrones within the modern fantasy tradition. The book’s instantiation of some of the key literary effects of that tradition is established. Its reputation as the work of an iconoclastic outsider to the tradition is shown to stem largely from misperceptions about the development of modern fantasy. These are addressed preparatory to an explanation, by way of a biographical sketch, that Martin is in many respects a typical contributor to the modern American fantasy tradition. What makes him noteworthy in that tradition is that he has made a concerted effort to utilise fantasy conventions as literary tools serving coherent polemic ends, most notably a reconsideration of the tradition itself by its detractors.