Game Of Thrones author George R R Martin has admitted he found parts of working on the TV adaptation of his books “traumatic” as he grappled with the power struggle between himself and the series’ creators.
The celebrated writer penned the original books on which the Game Of Thrones TV show was based, and served as an executive producer on all eight series.
However, with Game Of Thrones having now reached its controversial end, George has revealed that making decisions based on what should happen next on the show wasn’t always an easy process.
“It can be traumatic,” he told Fast Company. “Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don’t match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict.”
He also said that the show’s divisive final series was “not completely faithful” to what he had mapped out, joking: “Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.
George added: “You get totally extraneous things like the studio or the network weighing in, and they have some particular thing that has nothing to do with story, but relates to ‘well this character [is popular] so let’s give him a lot more stuff to do’.”
During the summer, George claimed he was happy his work on the show was over, saying it had actually “slowed down” his work as an author.
“I don’t think it was very good for me. The very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down,” he told The Observer.
Game Of Thrones’ sixth series was the first where the action on screen carried on after the end of George R R Martin’s book series, which is still in the works.
Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss did consult with the author to find out what he had planned for the rest of the novels, which inspired how things played out on screen.
While Game Of Thrones is now over, the first of what could be many spin-offs is now in the works, which George will once again be involved in.
