GRRM Interviewed on Ryan Condal Props Podcast

[Westeros]

Ryan Condal’s and David Mandel’s The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of podcast about movie and television prop collecting has returned after a mid-season hiatus, and it starts with a bang as Condal recruits none other than George R. R. Martin to discuss his own history as a collector, as well as just a wee bit of discussion of House of the Dragons at the end. Fans should find this one pretty interesting, in particular George’s feelings regarding the ideal adapters of his work going forward.

Discussion of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon related matter begins around the 1 hour, 18 minute mark.

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[The Bard of Banefort]

Thanks for the time stamp 

I’m surprised that GRRM himself pitched a Dunk and Egg show. Didn’t he say he has another ten novellas in mind? Unless he thinks he could just crank them out like he did Fire & Blood, I don’t know why he’d want to have another unfinished story adapted again.

[Ran]

It's already been reported that Dunk & Egg is being explored.

I think there's no reason Dunk & Egg has to be a series of novellas, basically, and this is a thing George has realized, especially as TWoW has proved just as difficult as AFfC/ADwD.

Like, if Hollywood had come knocking at his door back in 1997 and said, "Hey, give us an idea, we'll make a TV series of it," George could well have pitched what would become "The Hedge Knight" as the start of a TV series. We know George has extensive notes for events related to Dunk & Egg, he has a loose set of outlines for the main stories he wants to tell, but... he could just go, eh, I'll be executive producer, I'll provide my notes and insist on some role in planning out the stories, and let others do the heavy lifting of getting it to the screen.

That, in any case, is my guess as to why Dunk & Egg is now something that HBO is looking at.

[The Dragon Demands]

Maybe Dunk & Egg will be TV movies with years long gaps.

[The Bard of Banefort]

34 minutes ago, The Dragon Demands said:

Maybe Dunk & Egg will be TV movies with years long gaps.

That could work. Dunk and Egg are my favorite stories in ASOIAF, so I hope he does decide to write more of them. I always got the impression that he finds those fun to write.

On 9/24/2021 at 4:57 PM, Ran said:

It's already been reported that Dunk & Egg is being explored.

I think there's no reason Dunk & Egg has to be a series of novellas, basically, and this is a thing George has realized, especially as TWoW has proved just as difficult as AFfC/ADwD.

Like, if Hollywood had come knocking at his door back in 1997 and said, "Hey, give us an idea, we'll make a TV series of it," George could well have pitched what would become "The Hedge Knight" as the start of a TV series. We know George has extensive notes for events related to Dunk & Egg, he has a loose set of outlines for the main stories he wants to tell, but... he could just go, eh, I'll be executive producer, I'll provide my notes and insist on some role in planning out the stories, and let others do the heavy lifting of getting it to the screen.

That, in any case, is my guess as to why Dunk & Egg is now something that HBO is looking at.

In your opinion, do you think George may consider breaking Fire and Blood into three parts instead of two? He has so much material, I feel like he could publish another volume that covers Aegon III through Aegon IV, without delving into any material that may spoil D&E. 

[Lord Varys]

21 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

In your opinion, do you think George may consider breaking Fire and Blood into three parts instead of two? He has so much material, I feel like he could publish another volume that covers Aegon III through Aegon IV, without delving into any material that may spoil D&E. 

I've been saying that for years. The second volume could cover the reign of the adult Aegon III up to the death of Daeron II, thus having the pages necessary to continue the reign of the Dragonbane with the same amount of depth and detail he took for the Regency era (anything else would make the whole thing very unbalanced) as well as having enough space for a detailed account of the Conquest of Dorne, the weirdo escapades of Baelor the Blessed, and the many exploits of Aegon the Unworthy. Not to mention the buildup of the Blackfyre Rebellion and an in-depth portrayal of the Dornish union and whatever adventures Princess Elaena and her last husband had as Daeron's secret agents.

More importantly, such a split could allow George to write another volume of Fire and Blood without actually spoiling any later novellas of Dunk & Egg. I'd really hate it to get more spoilers about Dunk & Egg in another Fire and Blood volume, and there is no chance that he can really write around the plot and twists of the later planned novellas. TWoIaF already gave way too much information about Egg's future and the general setting and issues the Targaryens faced during that era.

[The Grey Wolf Strikes Back]

I agree wholeheartedly. (Then again, I was the first person to make that suggestion so far as I know.)

[Ran]

1 hour ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

In your opinion, do you think George may consider breaking Fire and Blood into three parts instead of two?

No, at present he still envisions a part being all he intends. But that’s for after ADoS.

[Lord Varys]

If there were to be a Dunk & Egg show or something like that before the novellas are finished, I'd like to get a Fire and Blood book covering the reign of Aegon V in detail because it would suck pretty hard if we got some sort of 'adaptation' on the basis of George's notes exclusively written for HBO.

But in general the idea to get Dunk & Egg's story in any other form than the novellas really sucks. For me, it sucks much more than GoT 'spoiling' the ending of ASoIaF. Dunk & Egg has a unique tone and atmosphere ... while adaptations of the three novellas could be great, getting this material first as adaptations isn't something I look forward to.

[The Bard of Banefort]

I really do feel like the reason why he’s having so much trouble is because GRRM is letting the pressure get to his head. Someone please give this man a hug. His fans are going to love the book no matter what, and even if they claim they don’t, they’ll still dissect it endlessly for the next decade (like they did with AFFC). 

[Daeron the Daring]

15 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I really do feel like the reason why he’s having so much trouble is because GRRM is letting the pressure get to his head. Someone please give this man a hug. His fans are going to love the book no matter what, and even if they claim they don’t, they’ll still dissect it endlessly for the next decade (like they did with AFFC). 

The thing is, he's kind of a perfectionist. When he says "Life is meaningless and full of pain" just because his team is having a bad season start, I think there's more than that. And he turned 73. Didn't seem happy about it. Still not being able to deliver TWOW could be a factor, and I think it is, beside age and the recent (numerous) deaths of other people 'close' to him. 

[Jaenara Belarys]

On 9/29/2021 at 9:14 AM, Ran said:

No, at present he still envisions a part being all he intends. But that’s for after ADoS.

So never. That's a shame, because I wanted to find out more about Aegon III and the reigns of him and his sons. Particularly Daeron's conquest and Baelor's Maidenvault. 

[The Bard of Banefort]

3 hours ago, Jaenara Belarys said:

So never. That's a shame, because I wanted to find out more about Aegon III and the reigns of him and his sons. Particularly Daeron's conquest and Baelor's Maidenvault. 

If I remember correctly, he originally planned on releasing F&B after ADOS too, so hopefully he’ll change his mind again.

I’m starting to wonder if he’d be better off releasing several more books in smaller installments (say, 750 pages instead of 1,150) than two huge tomes. Then fans would get something new to read every five years or so, and he wouldn’t have to undertake such a massive project at once.

13 hours ago, Daeron the Daring said:

The thing is, he's kind of a perfectionist. When he says "Life is meaningless and full of pain" just because his team is having a bad season start, I think there's more than that. And he turned 73. Didn't seem happy about it. Still not being able to deliver TWOW could be a factor, and I think it is, beside age and the recent (numerous) deaths of other people 'close' to him. 

I wish there was some way we could show our support. Maybe we should send him a massive e-card 

[Jaenara Belarys]

37 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I’m starting to wonder if he’d be better off releasing several more books in smaller installments (say, 750 pages instead of 1,150) than two huge tomes. Then fans would get something new to read every five years or so, and he wouldn’t have to undertake such a massive project at once.

 

Agreed. This sitting around is making me go insane. 

[The Dragon Demands]

17 hours ago, Jaenara Belarys said:

So never. That's a shame, because I wanted to find out more about Aegon III and the reigns of him and his sons. Particularly Daeron's conquest and Baelor's Maidenvault. 

Well there’s Blood of the Dragon, the online RPG

[EggBlue]

22 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

If I remember correctly, he originally planned on releasing F&B after ADOS too, so hopefully he’ll change his mind again.

I wish not! I hope he writes twow and ados back to back and then get to Dunk and Egg.  F&B is fun to read but it's a bit dry comparing to the main books and the novellas and it must be a lot of work . he has to come up with major events for another what? 200 years? it'll take forever from him.