(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Between himself and his minions, George R.R. Martin has been blogging up a storm the last few days. Most of it about Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, including news about book signing and brand new merch, plus those new enhanced digital editions of ASOIAF. But yesterday he was gleeful on his NotABlog for another reason. He’s moving up in the world! Or at least moving up the list of Most Powerful Writers in Hollywood.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin ranks fourth in their list of Hollywood’s Most Powerful authors. Who ranks ahead of him? James Patterson of the Zoo series is at Number 3, Stephen King’s at Number 2, and (no surprise here) J.K. Rowling’s at Number 1, having recently returned to the Potterverse with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Not that not being named Number 1 bothers Martin at all. He’s just pleased to have moved up the list, gleefully titling his post “I’m Number Four!” and noting “I seem to recall dimly that I was number seven a few years ago, so I guess I am getting more powerful by the day. Soon I will rule the world.“
(Insert image of Martin doing overly dramatic gleeful hand rubbing and perhaps a Mr. Burns impersonation.)
"Actually, though… I am delighted to see so many of my friends and colleagues on the list this year. They’ve got Diana Gabaldon at #14, Ernie Cline at #12, Gillian Flynn at #11, Dennis Lehane at #10, Neil Gaiman at #9, and Stephen King at #2. All writers I’ve published, worked with, hosted at the Jean Cocteau, and just been friends with, for varying lengths of time. All amazing talents, too. As are the other authors on the list, the ones I don’t know."
We too are pleased to see that Martin ranks so high. As Game of Thrones winds down on HBO, the question of what Martin will use his formidable power in Hollywood to create next is an open question. Currently there is a Wild Cards series in the works at NBC Universal. (Although he in not directly involved with that for legal reasons, he’s still lending his name to and championing it.) But the real question is if he can get more stories from Westeros brought to the big screen. Can he do it? As he himself notes, the true worth of this “power” of being so high on the list is not clear: “As to how much “power” any writer actually has, however… well, that’s another question.”
Only the power of imagination, sir. And last time I checked, that was a very powerful thing indeed.