It's been six years since Game of Thrones ended, but the franchise has only really taken off recently, with the third season of House of the Dragon on the way, plus more spinoffs coming. The one closest to us is The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which adapts George R.R. Martin's smaller-scale stories, and he had already warned that this wouldn’t be an epic tale but rather a character-driven drama. Recently, he pointed out that we shouldn’t expect three typical Game of Thrones moments: dragons appearing in the sky, massive battles, and the Others (White Walkers), not even in passing.
The creator shared a post on his blog, partly teasing fans about the upcoming series and other projects. Not The Winds of Winter, though, but we'll get to that later! In the introduction, he mentioned how quickly January had flown by to make it clear that he’s a very busy man, with hardly any time to write the penultimate book of A Song of Ice and Fire. BUT! The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is finished, and "I’ve now seen all six episodes (though I must admit, for the last two, it was just the rough cut), and I loved them all." Of course, as Martin added, Dunk and Egg, the main characters, are close to his heart, his favorite characters of his own, "and the actors portraying them are simply amazing." He believes it’s not just because of them that the series will be worth watching, as Lyonel Baratheon ("The Laughing Storm") and Tanselle Too-Tall will also be excellent characters.
Additionally, Martin emphasized that this will be a faithful adaptation, as any "rational person" would hope, meaning we can expect some changes since it’s not possible to translate a narrative directly into moving pictures. However, the author clearly stated that anyone expecting a typical Game of Thrones story should probably skip The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms:
"Viewers who are looking for action, more action, and just action... well, maybe this won’t satisfy them. Of course, there is a massive clash that’s exciting enough to appeal to anyone, but this time there are no dragons, no huge battles, and no Others... This is a character drama, focusing on duty, honor, chivalry, and things like that. The story, The Hedge Knight, was released between Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings to the fans […], and it became so popular that it attracted tens of thousands of new readers to Westeros. […] The series will debut sometime this year, I just got the info. I can’t say exactly when, maybe in the fall. I hope you’ll like it as much as I love it."
At the end of his blog post, Martin hinted that the Dunk & Egg story will continue, and regarding The Winds of Winter, he simply wrote, "Once I finish it," the other Dunk & Egg tales will follow. So, the book for A Song of Ice and Fire still hangs in the air.
Last year, Martin explained the slow progress of The Winds of Winter by saying that he has too many television projects.
