Author George R. R. Martin tried desperately to talk HBO out of making a TV show out of his epic “Game of Thrones” books — for fear that a flop would kill his popular series, according to a new book.
In the preface to a new book, Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones, Martin recalls telling the shows future producers, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff that ‘[i]t’s too big. It’s too complicated. It’s too expensive,’ and that ‘Hollywood Boulevard is lined with the skulls and bleached bones.’ Read More »
The original, totally awesome badge, minus my facetious photoshopping, is by Storied Threads/Veronica Bailey
George R.R. Martin provided an update this weekend on progress for both The Winds of Winter and The World of Ice and Fire. He says:
We all know how long the last novel took. And now I am writing the “sidebar” (hoo hah) about the first Dance of the Dragons, the fratricidal civil war between King Aegon II and his half-sister Rhaenyra, for THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE, and it’s turned into a monster too.
As of today, I have a hundred and three bloody manuscript pages (some VERY bloody) and still no end at hand. I had hoped to finish this one today, but… no, not even close. Lots more to write.
I think there’s some good stuff here, and judging by the reception my reading got at Chicon, most of you seem to like the fake history too. But DAMN, there a lot of it.
The ‘sidebar’ he’s referring to will appear in The World of Ice and Fire, an encyclopaedic volume collecting much of the history, maps, characters and vast backstory that Martin has created for A Song of Ice and Fire, but which will likely never appear in the novels themselves. I’m sure there will be much sniffing at the fact that he’s not dedicating all of his time directly to The Winds of Winter, but, hey, any A Song of Ice and Fire content is welcome to this fan.
UPDATE: As pointed out below, that’s 103 pages of manuscript for The World of Ice and Fire, not The Winds of Winter, which is further along.
Actual progress on the novel seems slow at 103 pages. By comparison, when submitted, A Dance with Dragons was 1510 manuscript pages. So, not even 10% of the way through. In other words, it’s going to be a long wait, fans. My suggestion? Go read some Daniel Abraham, then follow it up with some N.K. Jemisin, Greg Keyes, David Anthony Durham, Kate Elliott and Tad Williams. After that, you’ll still have to wait a while, but, hell, at least you’ll have experienced some damn fine novels.
From Westeros.org, via Locus, we have news about the release date for the next ‘Dunk & Egg’ novella from George R.R. Martin. The ‘Dunk & Egg’ novellas, which currently consist of ‘The Hedge Knight,’ ‘The Sworn Sword,’ and ‘The Mystery Knight,’ are a series of stories following the titular characters, Duncan the Tall and Egg, on their various adventures and mis-adventures through the land of Westeros. The stories are set about 90 years before the events in Martin’s popular A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and often feature cameos by characters and events hinted at in the mainline novels.
Of the novella, Westeros says:
[The] fourth Dunk and Egg novella, which will follow Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg to Winterfell where the “she-wolves” are said to rule as Lord Stark lays dying.
As Westeros mentions, it will be interesting to see if, indeed, this short story/novella does intersect with one of my favourite scenes from A Dance with Dragons. It won’t be the first time that the path of Duncan the Tall has intersected with everybody’s favourite little greenseer.
It’s ain’t The Winds of Winter, but you’ll never catch this guy complaining about new George R.R. Martin short fiction coming available, especially when it’s tied to A Song of Ice and Fire.
Sonar Entertainment has acquired the rights to author Terry Brooks’ bestselling fantasy series “Shannara” and is partnering with Farah Films to produce a television series based on the books.
[…]
“Terry has created a rich world of characters and stories that have entertained millions of readers all around the world for a quarter of a century,” Farah said. “He has a built-in fanbase that is bigger than those for even the most recent hit book series, like ‘The Hunger Games.’ We’re very excited and proud to have the opportunity to partner with Terry in adapting his great work for the smallscreen.”
“Terry Brooks appeals to a huge and diverse cross-section of audiences throughout the world,” Till added. “There is an enormous desire to see ‘Shannara’ brought to life for television. We know this is going to be a terrific series that will both delight longtime fans and attract legions of new devotees.”
As always, I advise rampant skepticism and sheltered expectations at announcements like this. The Elfstones of Shannara has been optioned before, with a script written by Eldon Thompson, a Fantasy writer himself, and that turned into nothing but vapor and hot air. Still, Shawn Speakman, webmaster and friend of Brooks, expands with more details and some of his own thoughts on the news, which are encouraging:
There are some great things about this. In this situation, Terry is a partner, given a level of creative control that assures any adaptation is done to his vision. We also have Game of Thrones on our side. The show has been wildly popular in the episodic television format and we hope other networks might be interested in Shannara for the same reasons Thrones works. Not to mention giving eight or ten episodes to tell the grandness of Elfstones will ensure a faithful adaptation of one of the masterpieces of fantasy literature.
Terry also feels Elfstones is the right place to start. Sword mimics LOTR for the first third of the book whereas Elfstones is originally riveting from the start and also has the strong female characters Sword entirely lacks. If this gets greenlit into production and becomes a hit, the next likely place for Season 2 would be The Wishsong of Shannara.
The success of Game of Thrones is an easy reference point to point to, and has likely opened the doors for other Fantasy adaptations, like Brooks work, but I think there are a few key differences that make the comparison unfair towards The Elfstones of Shannara. Read More »
Map by Kitkat Pecson
So, how cute is this? Not that I have a kid, but this would totally be hanging on the wall of his/her nursery if I did!
