A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms recently premiered on HBO Max, but that's not the only thing from the Game of Thrones universe we have to look forward to this year, as the third season of House of the Dragon is also on its way. The series has received mixed reviews, and one person who has not been particularly impressed is George R.R. Martin - the creator of the entire franchise and author of the book series.
He has repeatedly said he is frustrated and disappointed with how his source material has been treated, and in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he now says he has little contact with the series' showrunner Ryan Condal:
"It's worse than rocky. It's abysmal.
"I hired Ryan. I thought Ryan and I were partners. And we were all through the first season. I would read early drafts of the scripts. I would give notes. He would change some things. It was working really well — I thought."
It was mainly during season two that the relationship took a nosedive, and Martin claims that Condal didn't listen to him at all and ignored all his feedback:
"Then we got into season two, and he basically stopped listening to me. I would give notes, and nothing would happen. Sometimes he would explain why he wasn't doing it. Other times, he would tell me, 'Oh, OK, yeah, I'll think about that.' It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed. Finally, it got to a point where I was told by HBO that I should submit all my notes to them and they would give Ryan our combined notes."
When he was presented with the plans for season three, he ultimately felt that "This is not my story any longer." We still don't know when House of the Dragon: Season 3 will premiere, but it is expected to be sometime this summer.
What do you think of the series so far, and if you've read the books, how does the series compare to them?