In a new book titled Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones — which is apparently some behind-the-scenes-style look at the show that is going to cost $40 and will probably be 1/1000 as interesting as the series itself, which … whatever, it’s your money — author George R.R. Martin discusses how he initially tried to dissuade HBO from hopping on the Lord of the Rings fantasy bandwagon and adapting his books to the screen. In addition to telling them “It’s too big. It’s too complicated. It’s too expensive,” he also said this, which is one of the most George R.R. Martin things possible. From the New York Post:
In a preface written by Martin, the author says he told producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss that “Hollywood Boulevard is lined with the skulls and bleached bones” of people who tried and failed to adapt popular literature for the movies.
HBO Producer David Benioff: Hey George, we love your books and we think they’d make a cool TV show. What do you think?
George R.R. Martin: Television is like an angry winged beast that incinerates everything it sees with its fiery breath, leaving nothing behind but the ruins of a once-thriving village and the lingering stench of burnt flesh as it swoops off to the north to unleash more fury.
HBO Producer D.B. Weiss: Soooo… yes?
His biggest fear about a TV version of his first book was that a failure would cause fans to question their dedication to the series — and kill the community of readers that had grown around “A Song of Ice and Fire,” as the entire series is called.
This is certainly reasonable. The last thing you want is for someone to take the creative vision you’ve spent a huge chunk of your life developing and bastardize it in front of millions of people, and the second to last thing you want to do is be seen as a sellout by the legion of diehard fans you’ve accumulated during that process. On the other hand, some things were just meant to seen, you know?
I think he made the right call.
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He then went on to get all pouty when they wouldn’t cast a 14-year-old as Daenerys, exclaiming “Then why the fuck did I write all these sex scenes?”, which is the literally the most George R.R. Martin thing to say.
He’s come out and sai that he wished that he wrote that generation (Daeny, Robb Stark, Jon Snow) as being older
16 then
Sixteen is perfectly legal in some countries, and even some US states.
And perfectly sexy.
I just read the latest offering from his new book on his blog. It’s maybe the worst designed blog I’ve been too, but the man knows his audience. Martin posts his moods, and I could not find one that you couldn’t equate with nerd rage.
Do you mean the Theon chapter? It’s excellent but you got me excited that there was something new up.
I wish someone would talk him into finishing the goddamn book series.
Nah. He’s gonna keel over from a massive heart attack soon, and it’ll be left to HBO to finish the series.
This is not unacceptable.
On behalf of all GoT fans, please, please stop with the Iron Islands. No one gives a shit about any of them.
If the 6th book started “The Iron Islands, and all of King Greyjoy’s brothers and children, have been wiped from the world. That is all.” I would WOOP until I couldn’t woop no mo.
I hear ya LL!
I’ve read the first two books and call be a heretic but I can honestly say I loved the HBO series better than the books. (It might have something to do with the fact that despite almost every male character’s description could be summarized as “a white guy with a beard,” I can generally remember a character’s name better when I’ve seen their face. Also, boobs.)
The series and the book complement one another, I don’t think it’s a competition. The parts are so well acted that it gives breadth to the characters. There’s so much information that the books fill in the cracks in the show.
Uhh… I don’t want to sound like I’m being too much of a book snob, but book 3 (A Storm of Swords) will melt your face. It’s almost universally considered the best book in the series.
prof is right that book is incredible. I’m curious how they will manage to get everything that happens in that book into 10 episodes. Storm is a major game changer on so many levels.
@muteki: by breaking it into two seasons
@muteki that’s why it’s gonna be 20 episodes (which probably still isn’t enough but hey, double episodes)
I read all of the books and have become the GoT encyclopedia for my family. The books offer so much detail and even more disgusting imagery than the show that I couldn’t imagine being deprived of it. Besides, I got to take a video of my wife when they chopped off Ned’s head because I knew it was coming, and there are SO MANY parts like that in the books.I know people who read the “Cliffs Notes” versions and I wonder “why bother”.
And then he said..”words are wind, and mine smell like roses”
Not how many people have started or finished reading the series, but the phrase” words are wind” has gone from being something stated by a character once every now and again, to everyother page by the mid point of the last book…These books would be 300 pages long and completely done by now had he not repeated everything he’s written 123 times per book. I love the series, but we would all be reading the 7th book by now if he was a more concise author.
Have to agree with you here. “Dany, who you may remember was the brother of Viserys and then they went here and then he died and then Khal Drogo…and then she removed it, wondering how it all fit in there…and at least he was finished…then dragons.”
Ironically, the scene depicted in that GIF above was not in the book.