“A Song of Ice and Fire” author George R.R. Martin promises he’s still working to finish his book series, but explained in a new blog post that a number of “Game of Thrones” spinoff series have taken up much of his time lately.
“The Winds of Winter,” the planned sixth novel in Martin’s book series, on which the HBO series “Game of Thrones” was based, has been in the works since at least 2011. In a Wednesday post on his blog, Martin admits while he made “a lot” of progress on the book in 2020, he made “less” in 2021. “But ‘less’ is not ‘none,’” Martin added.
Why did he make less progress in 2021? Because he was busy working on various “Game of Thrones” spinoff series in the works at HBO and HBO Max. The first, “House of the Dragon,” has wrapped filming and while HBO has yet to officially greenlight any additional shows, Martin provided updates on what’s currently in development.
The Nymeria series, about the Dornish warrior queen, has set Amanda Segel (“Person of Interest”) as showrunner and is currently titled “Ten Thousand Ships.” Segel has already turned in “a couple of drafts,” according to Martin.
Then there’s the Corlys Velaryon series, about the fabled Lord of the Tides and husband of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. Bruno Heller, creator of “Rome” and “The Mentalist” and showrunner of Fox’s “Gotham,” is writing the pilot for that show at the moment, which is currently titled “The Sea Snake” after previously being titled “Nine Voyages.”
And Martin also provided an update on the series based on his “Dunk & Egg,” which is being run by Steve Conrad (“Patriot”). “My team and I have had some great sessions with Steve and his team, and we really hit it off,” Martin said. “He’s determined to do a faithful adaptation of the stories, which is exactly what I want; these characters and stories are very precious to me.” Martin added that the show will not be titled “Dunk & Egg” and they are trying to decide between “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” or “The Hedge Knight” for the title. The first season would be based on the first novella, “The Hedge Knight.”
There’s also an animated series in the works at HBO Max, with the working title “The Golden Empire,” Martin reveals. The author confirmed the show would be set in Yi Ti, a nation in Essos in Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga. He remained mum on further details but did reveal that other animated shows are also in development.
Martin also reiterated that what he’s seen so far of “House of the Dragon” – which is set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” – he’s “loved.” That show does not yet have a firm release date, but the 10-episode first season is confirmed to be released on HBO this year.
