[thejeff]

Of course people go through amazingly dangerous events in real life and don't die in real life. More do die, of course. That's why they're called "dangerous events".

The general assumption in any kind of heroic fiction is that you're writing about the ones that made it, not the ones who died along the way. They're in the stories, because they're the ones who succeeded.

Anyway, my impression of Martin isn't real life, it's the other extreme from the standard happy fantasy stereotype: No good deed goes unpunished. Any trust is rewarded with betrayal, etc.