The ending of Game of Thrones might not have been the most universally beloved moment in recent television history, but that’s not stopping a number of people — this writer included — from feeling enthusiastic about HBO’s forthcoming series House of the Dragon. That’s set hundreds of years before the action of Game of Thrones, and features an impressive cast including Matt Smith, Paddy Considine and frequent Alex Garland collaborator Sonoya Mizuno.
And it turns out that someone who’s seen part of the show’s first season has had a decidedly positive reaction. That someone is George R. R. Martin, whose book Fire & Blood provides the source material for the show — which, by his own admission, makes him not the most objective of sources.
Martin took to his website to share his thoughts on what he’d seen. “I’ve seen a rough cut of the first episode. And loved it,” he wrote. “It’s dark, it’s powerful, it’s visceral… just the way I like my epic fantasy.”
“I think the Targaryens are in very good hands,” he added.
Based on Martin’s comments, it also sounds like House of the Dragon will share some of its predecessor’s tendency for having terrible things happen to some of its characters. “[J]ust as with GAME OF THRONES, most viewers will only have heard of a few of the actors, but I think you are going to fall in love with a lot of them,” Martin wrote. “(Only to have your heart broken later when… but no, that would be telling).”
The series is set to debut early next year.
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