While there is still some wait for viewers to get their first full glimpse of HBO’s upcoming series, House of the Dragon, when you’re the author, it’s a piece of cake to get an early viewing.
House of the Dragon is the prequel series based on House Targaryen and precedes the events that unfolded in HBO’s other epic fantasy series, Game of Thrones.
Author, George R. R. Martin, who penned the book series both TV shows are based on has recently blogged about having access to the first season and told fans what he thought of it so far.
George R. R. Martin has seen nine of the ten episodes
According to Martin’s official blog, the author has already seen nine of the ten episodes that fill out Season 1 of House of the Dragon.
“I’ve now watched rough cuts of nine of the ten episodes, and I continue to be impressed,” Martin wrote.
While he has gotten a chance to view the episodes, he did point out that while impressive to watch, they are still missing the SFX details that will really bring the show to life.
With House of the Dragon following House Targaryen, most likely, that means the dragons.
“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,” he added.
GRRM says House of the Dragon has improved some characters
Martin also commented on the fact that he felt that HBO had actually improved on some of the characters he had created.
“For all you book fans, it IS my story,” the author wrote.
House of the Dragon is based on the book, Fire & Blood, which is a chronicle of one of the maesters of the Citadel who has penned the story of House Targaryen that occurred some 300 years prior to Game of Thrones.
With any fandom that involves book translations, there is often a delicate line that has to be drawn between what is told in the books and how it translates onto the screen.
And, with any translation, there is always some discussion regarding whether or not it was a good interpretation. As far as Martin is concerned, HBO has done an excellent job.
“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.”
The author then went on to describe how he felt HBO has previously improved upon some of his characters in Game of Thrones, using Shae (Sibel Kekilli) as an example.
Whereas, in House of the Dragon, he insists that King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is a definite improvement on his book version.
Season 1 of House of the Dragon will premiere on HBO Max on August 21.