‘99.9% of the time it’s not that good’: The Game of Thrones author doesn’t take kindly to TV series and film adaptations.

George Martin has a dark soul. And pick up the pen to become famous. Or rather the keyboard. In his blog post and headline Tango adaptationPosted on May 24, Game of Thrones creator criticizes adaptations of novels into movies and TV series, saying they are “never make them better”. And not just a little. For him, in 99.9% of cases, they do not obey the original material. Long.

Recalling a meeting during a panel he had in 2022 with Neil Gaiman, creator of the Sandman comics, whose 2nd season will soon be released on Netflix, he writes that “very little has changed” Since the end of the first season of this series.

Citing famous authors such as Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl, JRR Tolkien, Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler and Jane Austen, the Game of Thrones creator makes his case:

“No matter how great a writer, no matter how good a book, there’s always someone who thinks they can do better and wants to take the story and make it better.” A book is a book, and a movie is a movie. “They’ll tell you like they’re saying something deep. Then they make the story their own.

A small nuance for the road

He still tempers his judgment a bit. “However, every once in a while we get a good adaptation of a really good book, and when that happens, it deserves to be applauded.” And to mention the really excellent and recent series Shogun, adapted from the works of James Clavell. adaptation which “was mentioned” For George RR Martin.

“I have to admit I was skeptical when I first heard they were making another version of Clavell’s novel.” He writes; “But I’m glad they did. New Shogun looks great. Better than Chamberlain’s version? I don’t know. I haven’t watched the 1980 miniseries since 1980. That was great too.

I think the author would be happy . Screenwriters, old and new, have done justice to the original material and given us excellent adaptations, resisting the urge to appropriate it.

It’s still a beautiful declaration of love either way. Without some irony, he doesn’t say a word in his post about the adaptation of his own saga, which was orchestrated for the screen by the duo David Benioff and DB Weiss.