The Harry Potter book and film series may now be over, but another fantasy adaptation is quickly becoming a major pop culture phenomenon. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is captivating legions of new fans, thanks in large part to the success of HBO's Emmy-nominated show Game of Thrones, which is based on Martin's medieval fantasy novels.

Martin released the fifth book in the series, A Dance With Dragons, this month and it became a runaway hit. The book had the highest first-day sales of any new fiction book this year, shifting 298,000 copies in print, digital and audio formats, USA Today reported recently.

Meanwhile, Martin, who published the original A Game of Thrones book in 1996, is dealing with the sudden onset of mainstream popularity. In this interview with CBC's Arisa Cox, Martin explains what this success means to him and how he's seeing a growing respect for fantasy fiction.

Do you read fantasy fiction? If so, what do you enjoy about it? Let us know in the comments below.