George R.R. Martin "loved" every episode of new Game of Thrones prequel coming this year

There is a new Game of Thrones prequel series coming out sometime this year: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas by George R.R. Martin. This first season is based on the first novella, "The Hedge Knight," which gets us acquainted with a stalwart knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his precocious squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). The story is set decades before the events of Game of Thrones but decades after the events of House of the Dragon, HBO's other Game of Thrones prequel series. Don't expect characters from either of those shows to turn up.

Martin wrote the source material for all three series, and he's just taken to his Not a Blog to share his thoughts about this newest one. "I’ve seen all six episodes now (the last two in rough cuts, admittedly), and I loved them," he wrote. "Dunk and Egg have always been favorites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast are terrific as well.  Wait until you guys meet the Laughing Storm. and Tanselle Too-Tall."

"The Hedge Knight" takes place during a tournament at Ashford Meadow in the Reach. Tanselle Too-Tall is a puppeteer working at the event; she's played by Tanzyn Crawford. "The Laughing Storm" is the name given to Lyonel Baratheon, played by Daniel Ings.

"It’s as faithful as adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly  reasonable I am on that particular subject)," Martin continued. "Viewers who are looking for action, and more action, and only action… well, this one may not satisfy you. There’s a huge fight scene here, as exciting as anyone could ask for, but there are no dragons this time around, no huge battles, no white walkers… this is a character piece, and its focus is on duty and honor, on chivalry and all it means."

Martin's parenthetical about being "incredibly reasonable" on the matter of adaptation refers to a flap from last year where he publicly criticized House of the Dragon, which in its second season strayed very far from its source material, Martin's book Fire & Blood. I won't rehash the whole incident here, but at least in my opinion, the closer these shows stick to Martin's text, the better they tend to be, so I'm happy to hear that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is true to the original novella.

The novella, by the way, is pretty short, hence why it's not surprising that this first season of the show will only last for six episodes. That's fewer than fans are used to, but in this case, I don't know if there's a way to pad things out without making it so the show overstays its welcome. The response so far has been very good, and I have a feeling people are going to love it. "This one ranks as one of the best stories I’ve ever written, and I am so so so pleased that [writers, producers and directors] Ira Parker, Ti Mikkel, Aziza Barnes (may they rest in peace), Owen Harris, and our astonishing cast and crew did right by them," Martin wrote. "I hope you will love the show as much as I do."

HBO hasn't yet revealed a release date for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but we know it's coming out sometime this year. Martin suggests it could come out in "the fall," which tracks with what we've heard. They haven't released a proper trailer, either, although we have seen little snippets of footage:

The future of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Tales of Dunk and Egg

Martin has written two more Dune and Egg novellas: "The Sworn Sword" and "The Mystery Knight." He writes that the cast and crew will be "moving on" to "The Sword Sword" next, although I hasten to remind everything that HBO hasn't officially renewed the series yet. I have hopes it'll do well enough for them to make that choice, especially since A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is likely very cheap to produce compared to something like House of the Dragon.

Martin has plans to write more Dunk and Egg novellas, but at this point I think readers know to be wary when he talks about future projects; after all, they've been waiting to read The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series, since 2011. In fact, Martin originally didn't want HBO to adapt his Dunk and Egg novellas because he was afraid that the show would run into the same problem that Game of Thrones did: running out of source material. But honestly, if HBO waited, I'm not sure we would ever get a show, so here we are.

At any rate, Martin seems much more optimistic on this topic these days. "And once I finish THE WINDS OF WINTER, I will need to get hopping on 'The Village Hero,' and all the other tales that await the lads," he wrote. "Don’t worry, I am sure you folks will remind me."

I guess "The Village Hero" is the name of the next Dunk and Egg novellas Martin wants to write. At times he's said that he was planning another Dunk and Egg novella called "The She-Wolves of Winterfell," but maybe that's shifted around. His fans will take whatever they can get.

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