'I could escape': George RR Martin on how books shaped his childhood

03:12

‘I could escape’: George RR Martin on how books shaped his childhood

Reading provided an "escape" while growing up, George RR Martin has said at the Santa Fe Literary Festival.

"I had books... and through books I could escape", the author said while talking about his working class upbringing in New Jersey.

"I went to other planets and distant stars" Martin said, describing sci-fi, before discussing his love of Robert E. Howard and JRR Tolkien "They took me to The Hyborian Age and Middle Earth".

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