It was announced yesterday that Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon has been commissioned for a full series – but we could be waiting a while for it if author George RR Martin has his way.
The acclaimed author has promised that he would not be contributing to scripts for the new series until he has finished the long-awaited sixth book in the Song Of Ice And Fire series, The Winds Of Winter.
The tome has been eight years in the making and beset by delays. This meant that the TV adaption of Thrones had to overtake its sourcebooks as Martin still hadn’t finished writing.
‘I expect to be involved in [the production of House of the Dragon],’ the fantasy scribe wrote in his blog. ‘But… let me make this perfectly clear… I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered Winds Of Winter.’
‘Winter is still coming,’ he warned. ‘And Winds remains my priority, as much as I’d love to write an [episode] of House.’
The new prequel will be set a few centuries before the events of Thrones and will follow the Targaryen dynasty’s conquest of Westeros, the story will be adapted from Martin’s own fantasy-historical novel Fire And Blood.
The last book published in A Song Of Ice And Fire, Dance Of Dragons, was published in 2011, and Martin has previously said he has missed deadlines set by his publisher to finish Winds Of Winter.
The news comes hot on the heels of a very big week in the Thrones universe. House Of The Dragon’s commission came just a day after another prequel starring Naomi Watts was cancelled.
While the showrunners of the original adaption, David Benioff and DB Weiss, were announced to have dropped out of writing a new Star Wars trilogy.
Given the devastating final season of Game of Thrones, however, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.
House of the Dragon will air on HBO. Game of Thrones seasons 1-8 is available to stream on NOW TV.
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