http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_R._R._Martin
My favorite author ever. A Song Of Ice And Fire is my favorite series ever. A Clash Of Kings is possibly the best book ever, and definetaly my favorite. It's amazing how developes characters, but even that doesn't compare with his multi-faceted stroytelling. So get the books and read all 3500 pages of them! His short stories are good as well, and Windhaven or whatever it was called is good.