George R.R. Martin Praises New Game of Thrones Spinoff After Blasting House of the Dragon

Author George R. R. Martin may have strong criticism for HBO’s House of the Dragon, but when it comes to new Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, his opinion appears to be much higher. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin didn’t comment on his criticism of House of the Dragon, but instead had nothing but good to say about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms currently in the works and expected to arrive on HBO sometime next year.

“I visited the set in Northern Ireland in July and loved what I saw,” Martin wrote in a statement. “Great cast. [The lead characters] Dunk and Egg look as if they walked out of the pages of my book. My readers are going to love them. I certainly do. [Showrunner Ira Parker] is doing a great job.”

Martin’s praise for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms comes just a week after the Game of Thrones creator took to his blog to address what he called “toxic” story changes in House of the Dragon. In the since deleted post, Martin outlined that one of his issues with House of the Dragon centered around the erasure of Aegon and Helaena Targaryen’s youngest child, Prince Maelor. In the book’s version of the Blood & Cheese storyline, the young prince’s existence is a major facet with significant ramifications later on and, Martin indicated that initial conversations with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal indicated the character would still appear, albeit later on. However, that did not end up coming to fruition as the series is set to end with Season 4, prompting Martin to reveal that it could result in an impact to the final two seasons of the series as well as hinted that “there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if House of the Dragon goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for seasons 3 and 4…”

HBO later responded to Martin’s criticisms, acknowledging the difficult changes that the series had to make when it came to adapting the source material.

“There are few greater fans of George R.R. Martin and his book Fire & Blood than the creative team on House of the Dragon, both in production and at HBO,’ the statement reads (via Variety). “Commonly, when adapting a book for the screen, with its own format and limitations, the showrunner ultimately is required to make difficult choices about the characters and stories the audience will follow. We believe that Ryan Condal and his team have done an extraordinary job and the millions of fans the series has amassed over the first two seasons will continue to enjoy it.”

As for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Martin has had positive things to say about the series before. Earlier this year, Martin took to his blog to comment on the tone of the series as well as praise Parker and his team.

“The Hedge Knight will be a lot shorter than Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, with a much different tone… but it’s still Westeros, so no one is truly safe,” Martin wrote. “Ira Parker and his team are doing a great job.”

He added, “Oh, and we have our director as well: Owen Harris, a terrific British director whose credits include helming ‘San Junipero’, my all-time favorite episode of Black Mirror. Owen will direct three of our six episodes.”

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, set a century before the events of Game of Thrones and following two unlikely heroes as they wander Westeros, Ser Duncan the Tall and his diminutive squire, Egg, is expected to arrive on HBO sometime in 2025.