14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago it was announced that George R.R. Martin, the author of the most popular fantasy series at the moment, was offering a lucky man or woman the chance to be killed off in his next book, since he's gained a reputation for not having the slightest remorse in murdering major characters in his stories, often in gruesome ways.
The only condition was that the lucky contestant had to donate a sum of money to a crowdfunding campaign to support Wild Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot of Santa Fe. The author was shocked by how many people applied for the contest and how many people donated money, just for a chance to be figuratively killed in a book. ABC News reports that the contest was won by a 30-year-old Facebook employee by the name of David Goldblatt, which might not sound too “Westerosi,” but we're sure that Martin can think of something to make it work.
When asked about his name and if it would undergo some changes, Goldblatt shrugged “I have no idea. You’re going to have to ask George about that.”
Goldblatt is said to be a product specialist with the social media giant Facebook and he lives in San Francisco. He told in an interview that “I’m just lucky enough to be in a position to do this. Obviously, the money is going to charity, so it’s an added bonus. I didn’t immediately seek to help wolf sanctuaries, but the more I read about the charities, I learned it was a worthwhile cause.”
Reports show that one more person has won the “Martyr” perk, a woman, which will see her get killed in Martin's epic “A Song of Fire and Ice,” but this second person remains anonymous. As an added bonus, the winners will get to choose their “character's station in the world (lordling, knight, peasant, whore, lady, maester, septon, anything) and you will certainly meet a grisly death!”
Goldblatt already made up his mind on what he wanted to be and he chose to be a Valryian, a group of famous people who make near-indestructible steel in the books. When asked on his choice, Goldblatt said “You read some piece of fiction and for whatever reason you think one particular character or race is cool – and for whatever reason, I thought the Valyrians were cool. I’m hoping in future books we get to see more of them.”
The charity auction continues until it will reach its goal of half a million dollars but it's going to offer other prizes, such as Comic Con tickets.