George R.R. Martin boggled by Game of Thrones-branded slot machine

(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

I think it can be assured that, ten years ago, none of us foresaw the kind of global success a television adaption of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels would have. Yes, The Lord of the Rings was a cinematic smash, but it was a movie trilogy, and had the type of large-scale budget foreign to TV. Although we loved the story, it was, after all, a genre piece. And besides, when George R.R. Martin wrote it, he meant it to be unfilmable.

But there’s no one more shocked by the Game of Thrones phenomena than George R.R. Martin himself. Despite the ups and down of the experience—the highest highs of the television ratings, the lowest lows of realizing he wouldn’t finish The Winds of Winter before the TV show passed him by narratively—this has been, in his words, a “wild ride.”

And although Martin has somewhat taken himself off the internet this past year in order to buckle down and get The Winds of Winter out as soon as he can, he wrote a short entry on his Not A Blog yesterday, having discovered to his utter bemusement that Game of Thrones had once again reached into corners of the world where he never expected to find it.

The casinos.

"I don’t go to casinos very often, and when I do I prefer to play poker or blackjack with other human beings rather than the slots, but I’d play this one. In fact, I want one for myself. Though I have no idea whether it is even legal for an individual to own a slot machine, or if you need a casino to be able to have one."

He’s been told there’s one in the nearby Sky City casino, but has not actually gone to see it himself yet. Either way, it’s a reminder of how surreal the 21st century actually is, as even Vegas gets into the Westeros act.