George RR Martin struggling with “fury & despair” over Game of Thrones TV shows

After making waves with his criticisms of House of the Dragon, George RR Martin has cited the Game of Thrones TV shows as being part of the reason behind book delays.

For as long as Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have occupied screens, fans of the franchise have been hammering Martin about finishing his next book installment, The Winds of Winter.

Now, the creator has been open about his reason behind delays, and it all has to do with the new TV shows stemming out from his Westerosi tales.

As he wrote in a September 9 entry on his website: “Writing came hard, and though I did produce some new pages on both THE WINDS OF WINTER (yes) and BLOOD & FIRE (the sequel to FIRE & BLOOD, the second part of my Targaryen history), I would have liked to turn out a lot more.”

HBO

He then went onto specifically mention the TV shows as being to blame, though it seems he’s more forgiving to some projects than others.

“My various television projects ate up most of those months,” he continued. “Some of that was pleasant (DARK WINDS, and THE HEDGE KNIGHT), most of it was not.

“The stress kept mounting, the news went from bad to worse to worst, my mood seemed to swing between fury and despair, and at night I tossed and turned when I should have been sleeping. When I did sleep, well, my dreams were none too pleasant either.”

Online, the majority of responses to his post appear to be negative. Those who have criticized Martin in the past are doubling down, though there are a few sympathetic comments to be found.

“He’s 80, another friend dies every week, health waning, he shouldn’t have to focus on writing one of the most complex fantasy stories of all time and I don’t think he can,” said one X user.

Another added: “I genuinely feel sad about what he’s feeling. I hope he can take care of himself & do things that bring him joy.”

For more, take a look at our guides to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon Season 3. You can also take a look at the history of the Targaryen kings, and learn more about the filming locations.