In a long post on his private blog, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin gave away major updates regarding the upcoming Game of Thrones prequels, including reveals of their updated titles. He also shared a ton of details regarding his mammoth writing schedule through 2021-22.
“[The prequels] have taken a ton of my time and attention this year,” shared Martin. “ I have seen some comments out there questioning how much I am involved in these new series. The answer is: a lot.”
Martin has, first of all, confirmed that the upcoming ‘Nymeria’ series about a legendary Dornish warrior-queen, has been titled Ten Thousand Ships. Her story was previously animated and brought to life in Histories & Lore — a special animated segment that accompanies every Blu-Ray season of Game of Thrones.
The series charts the ancient origins of Houses Martell and Dayne, as well as the story of how Queen Nymeria came to establish the southern Westeros region of Dorne. As of now, Martin has confirmed Amanda Segel as showrunner, sharing that she has delivered a couple of script drafts and that the two have begun collaborating.
Meanwhile, Martin also shared that “Bruno Heller, the creator and showrunner of ROME, is writing his pilot script for the Corlys Velaryon series.” The character — a shrewd and infamous seafaring adventurer — will be played by Steve Toussaint, and has been confirmed to appear in the already-announced House of the Dragon.
Velaryon’s show was initially named Nine Voyages, but the name was scrapped as Martin and his team at HBO thought that two shows with numbers in their titles would be excessive. It is now called The Sea Snake, after the legendary mariner’s famous nickname.
Another project of great interest is the Dunk and Egg series, helmed by Steve Conrad. “He’s determined to do a faithful adaptation of the stories, which is exactly what I want; these characters and stories are very precious to me,” Martin says. “The first season will be an adaptation of the first novella, The Hedge Knight.”
While the series, which charts the journey of a nameless knight and a young Aegon V Targaryen, is one of the most exciting projects on Martin’s hit list, it remains without a team-approved name as of now.
“Contrary to what you may have read online,” wrote Martin, “the show will not be called Dunk & Egg, which could be mistaken for a sitcom by viewers unfamiliar with the stories. We’re leaning toward A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms for the series title, though The Hedge Knight has its partisans as well.”
There’s also an animated series that Martin confirms is set in the China-inspired land of Yi Ti. The author notes it has the working title The Golden Empire, but can’t yet reveal the ‘great young writer’ behind it, as the project is still at a very early stage.
“I would tell you more if I could,” Martin lamented. “I don’t think I can say a word about the other animated shows. Not yet.”
The live-action titles will be on HBO, Martin notes, while the animated series is set for HBO Max.
Martin’s Progress with ‘The Winds of Winter’
At 73, you’d expect the shows to be enough work for a writer, but it seems that Martin simply can’t put his pen down. “I like working. Writing, editing, producing. There is nothing I like better than storytelling,” he shared.
He then immediately confirmed his ongoing progress with The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth entry in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.
“Yes, of course I am still working on The Winds of Winter,” he wrote. “I have stated that a hundred times in a hundred venues, having to restate it endlessly is just wearisome. I made a lot of progress on Winds in 2020, and less in 2021… but “less” is not “none.”
Apart from Winds, Martin shared a massive list of pending written work that’s gotten in the way of his novel release. Here’s some of what he shared:
- The second volume of Archmaester Gyldayn’s history, Fire & Blood
- More Dunk and Egg novellas
- A special edition illustrated coffee-table book version of Fire & Blood Volume One
- An extensive Who’s Who book that shares character biographies of everyone we know from Westeros
Martin consoled fans by reminding them that “House Of The Dragon is coming soon,” referring to the series’ pending 2022 release date.
“So far, I am very excited,” he shared. “House Of The Dragon has wrapped in London and is now in post-production. What I have seen, I have loved. I am eager to see more.”
(Featured Image Credit: @GRRMSpeaking/Twitter)
