We don’t know a ton about House of the Dragon, HBO’s upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, but we know enough to get excited. That’s due in no small part to the quality of the talent involved. Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin pitched in, of course, but don’t expect him to be involved in the day-to-day operations. That task will fall to Miguel Sapochnik, the director behind classic Game of Thrones episodes like “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards”; and Ryan Condal, the writer behind the sci-fi series Colony. Also in the room will be writer Wes Tooker, playwright Claire Kiechel, and writer’s assistant Ti Mikkel.
Now, it looks like another writer is joining the team…probably. May I introduce David Anthony Durham, a historical fiction writer who’s written novels set during the Punic Wars, in the antebellum United States, and one well-reviewed high fantasy series: the Acacia Trilogy. Obviously, a man of his talents would be useful on a show about the Targaryen Civil War known as the Dance of the Dragons, which itself is based on a real-life period of English history called the Anarchy. Historical fiction authors to the front of the line.
A fun FYI: David Anthony Durham is also the name of an attempted murderer the FBI wanted to catch so badly it offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest…but we’re talking about the other one.
ANYWAY, the news about Durham — again, that’s the author, not the criminal — came from an article on the Wild Cards World official website. Wild Cards, if you’re unaware, is a superhero anthology series edited by George R.R. Martin. Different authors write different stories set in this world, and Martin compiles them all into a volume; Wild Cards books have been coming out for years, and there’s even a Hulu series in the works.
Durham was one of these Wild Cards authors. The article is about how different Wild Cards authors have gone on to work on different TV shows in Hollywood, and Westeros.org points to this intriguing part:
And other members of the [Wild Cards] Consortium have been blessed with these opportunities, including David Anthony Durham on one of the GAME OF THRONES prequels, and Saladin Ahmed on FOUNDATION.
This article is written by Michael Cassutt, himself a member of the Wild Cards Consortium and someone intimately involved with the Hulu show. Now, it’s possible that Cassutt was hinting at Durham at one time being involved with the other Game of Thrones prequel series, the one set during the Age of Heroes that didn’t go forward. But the Wild Cards article just went up recently and it seems odd to brag about Durham landing a cancelled gig. Plus, it’s just more fun to think about who could be working on House of the Dragon.
As for when we might see the fruits of Durham’s labors, pencil it in for 2022 at the earliest.
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