Devoted Game of Thrones fans are threatening to boycott George RR Martin’s next book after his co-author’s controversial comments about the colour of characters was brought to light.
The fantasy screenwriter’s next project was titled The Rise Of The Dragon: An Illustrated History Of The Targaryen Dynasty, Volume One, which he wrote alongside married couple Linda Antonsson and Elio M. García Jr.
However, Antonsson’s previous remarks about the ethnicities not matching the characters in Martin’s original book has raised several eyebrows.
In 2021, Antonsson criticised Steve Toussaint’s casting as Corlys Velaryon in GOT spin-off House of The Dragon.
‘Corlys is miscast, there are no Black Valyrians and there should not be any in the show,’ she tweeted.
‘Diversity should not trump story, simple as that.’
After Martin advertised the new novel on social media, fans made their feelings known and even expressed for him to ‘cut ties’ with his co-authors.
‘While I would love to support the artists whose work is featured in this book, I cannot support Linda Antonsson,’ one person tweeted.
‘This blows me. I wanted to read the book but knowing shes involved is just impossible for me,’ another seethed.
‘Will not be buying this book given the co-author. Her attitudes toward diversity disgust me. Love you, George, but she is an example of what may be toxic in this fandom. (Also Steve Toussaint is one of the best parts of HotD).,’ a third person wrote.
In a recent interview with Variety, Antonsson insisted that angry fans ‘stripped’ her statements ‘out of context.’
‘If George had indeed made the Valyrians Black instead of white, as he mused on his ‘Not a Blog’ in 2013, and this new show proposed to make the Velaryons anything other than Black, we would have had the same issue with it and would have shared the same opinion,’ she said.
When asked if Martin was aware of the backlash, Antonsson claimed that he ‘doesn’t see the point in engaging with people’ online.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to George RR Martin and Ten Speed Press Publishing for comment.
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