Game of Thrones has fast become the most anticipated hour of television for millions of Americans each week, with its unpredictable plot lines, untrustworthy characters and weekly bloodbaths. The new issue of Rolling Stone – covered by actor Kit Harington, who plays the show’s long-haired, steely-eyed hero Jon Snow – goes behind the scenes with features on Harington and an in-depth interview with novelist George R.R. Martin, who conceived the world of Westeros and the Song of Ice and Fire series of books that serve as the basis for Game of Thrones.

In the Harington feature, “The Winter Soldier,” written by contributing editor Stephen Rodrick, the frequently tight-lipped 27-year-old actor explained what he has in common with Snow, as well as their differences. “Snow’s a black sheep,” Harington says. “The thing that drives both of us is more similar than you might think – he’s driven by ambition. I’ve always been ambitious too.” Snow, he said, is a good person who believes in what he’s doing and he admires the way the character balances duty with ambition. “I’m very ambitious,” Harington said, “but how do I balance that with not fucking other people up around me?”

Rolling Stone also interviews the creator, George R.R. Martin, a.k.a. “The Man Behind the Thrones.” In our Q&A conducted by contributing editor Mikal Gilmore, the author explains how everyday life, right down to stories his mother told him about his own family while growing up in Bayonne, New Jersey, inspired the bloodthirsty families within the Song of Ice and Fire cycle of novels. “To get to my school, I had to walk past the house where my mother had been born, this house that had been our house once,” he says. “In some of my stories, there’s this sense of a lost golden age, where there were wonders and marvels undreamed of. Somehow what my mother told me set all that stuff into my imagination.” The full interview with Martin is now posted on RollingStone.com.

Also in this issue: Alex Morris profiles the porn star and Duke freshman known as Belle Knox, Janet Reitman investigates how Russia is turning into a nation of fear, paranoia and repression and Jeff Goodell explores Obama’s climate-change initiatives.

The Game of Thrones story appears in the new issue of Rolling Stone on stands and in the iTunes App Store this Friday, April 25th.

Photo Credit: Rolling Stone

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