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George R.R. Martin is not shy about sharing his thoughts on adaptations of his work. The author has previously shared his discontent with “House of the Dragon” and the changes made to the source material — specifically the Blood and Cheese sequence and the erasure of a book character with big repercussions for the larger story.
But you know what show has Martin giddy with excitement? “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” The upcoming “Game of Thrones” spin-off is based on Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg” novellas, which tale the story of Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall, a hedge knight, and his squire, Egg (who is revealed to be Prince Aegon Targaryen). The show takes place 90 years before the events of the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire.
Martin took to his blog, which he’s dubbed “Not a Blog,” to share his satisfaction with how this adaptation is turning out, writing about his experience watching the show. “I’ve seen all six episodes now,” Martin wrote. “And I loved them.” The author went on to praise the cast, and says the adaptation is “as faithful as adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for.” Martin did warn viewers, however, that they should not expect “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” to be as focused on action and dragons as previous shows set in his fantasy world of Westeros. Instead, the show is “a character piece, and its focus is on duty and honor, on chivalry and all it means.”
This is great news, and high praise from Martin, particularly after his issues with “House of the Dragon” (issues shared by many fans and critics).
Of course, the author also took the chance to update readers on his progress on “The Winds of Winter.” Or, more accurately, his lack of progress on “The Winds of Winter,” a book that grows in anticipation yet decreases in likelihood of being finished with every passing month.
Remember The Winds of Winter?
“The Winds of Winter” has gone from a tangible promise to a meme. Just think of how many other ludicrous projects have actually materialized in the 14 (!!) years since Martin’s last book in the series. We had eight seasons of “Game of Thrones” and two seasons of a prequel spin-off. Zack Snyder actually got to release his cut of “Justice League.” Terry Gilliam actually filmed and released “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” Even Francis Ford Coppola managed to finish and release his passion project, “Megalopolis.”
And in all that time, we still don’t have even a whisper of a possible release date for “The Winds of Winter” — which, mind you, is not even supposed to be the last book in Martin’s sprawling series. At this point, the author should stop looking to incredibly prolific writers like Stephen King for advice on dealing with writer’s block, and instead look at how authors like Eiichiro Oda have consistently released new work for multiple decades without many breaks (and without many dips in quality). Indeed, it’s wild to think that “One Piece” began circulation just a year after the publication of “A Game of Thrones,” yet it is more likely that the long-running manga series will actually end before the penultimate “A Song of Ice and Fire” book even gets a proper release date. Even “Hunter x Hunter,” a manga with an infamously spotty release schedule given the many breaks author Yoshihiro Togashi is forced to take due to his health, has a more consistent release pattern than Martin’s books.
The more time passes, the more fans should come to terms with the likelihood that Martin will never actually finish “The Winds of Winter,” and either leave it for someone else to finish, or just end the story as-is. While of course we’d be disappointed if that happened, it’s important to remember that Martin doesn’t owe anyone anything, and he should be able to spend his time just walking through sets based on his writing rather than worry about ever meeting the impossibly high expectations for the ending of his book series.
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