George R.R. Martin gives his impression on 9 of first 10 episodes of HOTD

A Song of Ice and Fire creator, George R.R. Martin, has seen nine rough-cut versions of the ten House of the Dragon episodes.

George R.R. Martin recently gave his thoughts via a post on his blog on HBO’s upcoming series House of the Dragon, which will feature ten episodes and cover a period set over 100 years before the first episode of Game of Thrones. This era is an era in which dragons were still the primary power in Westeros.

What Martin saw was a rough cut of the nine episodes he watched, meaning many of the effects were yet to be completed. What he did see- the acting, directing, and writing- he all had high praise for.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON?   Glad you asked.   I’ve now watched rough cuts of nine of the ten episodes, and I continue to be impressed.   I cannot speak to the SFX, many of which are not in yet, but the look of it is great, and the acting, the directing, and writing are first rate.   And yes, for all you book fans, it IS my story.   Sure, there are some changes from FIRE & BLOOD — we could not present three alternative versions of every major event, not and keep our sanity — but I think Ryan Condal and his writers made good choices.   Even some improvements.   (Heresy, I know, but being the author, I am allowed to say so).    For years, as some of you may recall, I have been saying the TV version of Shae, as portrayed by Sibel Kekilli, was a deeper, richer, and more nuanced characters than the Shae in my novels.   In a similar vein, I am vastly impressed by the show’s version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty  that my book Viserys never quite achieved.   Kudos to Paddy, Ryan and his writers, and Miguel and the other directors.   (There are a lot of great performances in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON — or HOT D, as I hear some are calling it.   You may never have heard of some of our actors, but I think you will learn to love them, just as you did with the cast of GAME OF THRONES).

George also gave some final words on his post in regard to his next book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series— The Winds of Winter.

WINDS, you say?   Yes, still working.   Finally finished a clutch of Cersei chapters that were giving me fits.   Now I am wrestling with Jaime and Brienne.   The work proceeds, though not as fast as many of you would like.

That’s all for now.

The House of the Dragon is set to premiere on HBO Max on August 21st, 2022.

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