George RR Martin has weighed in on the upcoming rivalry between The Lord of the Rings and House of the Dragon.
The Game of Thrones author has spoken out with the prequel – which stars The Crown’s Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother to King Viserys – set to launch on HBO on August 22, with Amazon’s JRR Tolkien-inspired show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power coming on September 2.
There’s plenty of talk about the two fantasy epics going head to head both with fans and once award season rolls round, but Martin has played down the idea of an epic ‘battle for fantasy supremacy’.
The author told The Independent: ‘I know a lot of articles, the minute the dates were announced, it’s: “Oh, the battle for fantasy supremacy. It’s Rings of Power versus House of Dragon, who will win?”
‘I don’t know why they always have to do that. I hope both shows succeed. I’m competitive enough. I hope we succeed more. If they win six Emmys, and I hope they do, I hope we win seven.
‘But nonetheless, it’s good for fantasy. I love fantasy. I love science fiction. I want more shows on television.’
The Lord of the Rings spin-off is largely based on Tolkien’s appendices for his iconic literary series, and Martin described the situation as a ‘weird deal’ for the upcoming show.
‘It’s kind of a weird deal, as you know. Amazon bought Tolkien, but they didn’t actually get any of the books. They didn’t get Lord of the Rings, they didn’t get The Hobbit, they didn’t even get The Silmarillion,’ he said.
‘I don’t think they got Farmer Giles of Ham or Leaf by Niggle, but they got the appendices, I guess, and they’re constructing a Second Age story about that. There’s a lot of myth about that, so it’ll be interesting to see what they did.’
Meanwhile, House of the Dragon – based on Martin’s Fire & Blood and set 200 years before the events of Game Of Thrones – chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen and the events leading up to the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons.
In a recent blog post, the writer teased: ‘I saw rough cuts of a couple more episodes of House Of The Dragon, and was just as pleased as I was with the earlier episodes.
‘Ryan and Miguel and their cast and crew are doing great work. Those of you who like complex, conflicted, grey characters (as I do) will like this series, I think.’
House Of The Dragon will launch on August 22 on Sky Atlantic and streaming service Now. The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is coming to Amazon Prime Video on September 2.
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