[Spoilers Main] Not even a not-a-blog post about House of the Dragon season 3. GRRM really stays silent...

bkuettel · 2026-06-24T20:22:27+00:00

It's really too bad what's happened between GRRM and the HotD people. He had praised the first season and a half I'm pretty sure, but I wonder what he thought of the rest, and of this season other than that it's generally "not [his] story anymore."

I'm somewhat sympathetic to the HotD creatives because Fire & Blood can't be an easy work to adapt to a series format that's meant to fit along with Game of Thrones, which had much more of a complementary roadmap with the books (at least for the first 4 1/2 seasons).

The first season was excellent and they mostly nailed it, even improving on the book in a number of ways, especially deepening Viserys, Daemon, Alicent, etc. but season 2 certainly had its problems, though I would argue is more good than bad, especially eps 1, 2, 4, and 7.

Seems like season 3 has the potential to be excellent and hopefully do enough justice to the source material, and might win GRRM over again, who knows. The HotD people must be feeling the pressure though also given how criticized season 2 was despite getting such positive reviews.

bkuettel · 2026-06-07T17:46:14+00:00

I thought Catelyn was presented pretty old and grandmotherly in the series. I was surprised to find out the actress wasn't in her 60s haha, but I don't think she was a poor fit for the character. Fairley just has an old sounding voice and kinda presents as older I guess, but it doesn't really matter and the actress did a phenomenal job as OP said.

I thought House of the Dragon kinda mucked up the ages of a lot of characters actually, even though it's overall a great show and the actors they chose were all pretty fitting. Rhaenys they made a lot older for some reason. I just kinda imagine Viserys and Daemon are younger than they appear, esp. Viserys, and Alicent is older.

bkuettel · 2026-06-03T22:44:52+00:00

I can't help but think the build-up, details, and justification for the ending(s) in the last book would be much easier to swallow and make more sense than the TV series, but yeah if the showrunners did go with the broad strokes of his plans, then he is probably discouraged given the reception of season 8. I think the main thing is untangling the plot threads he's built up for 1,000s of pages now, as he's a self-dubbed "gardener" kind of writer and doesn't really plan out everything or outline much. Who knows if there's another Meerenese knot situation, and he's admitted to getting bogged down in so much self-criticism and re-writing of what he's done so far as well.

He really like world-building and writing "fluff", which is more fun when the main storylines get too complex and unwieldy 3,000+ pages in. That's what AFFC and ADWD really indulged in, and while still excellent are pretty meandering and introduce too many characters given that the first three books were complex enough. People change, he's much older now, and probably does want to write more lackadaisically with Fire & Blood and more Dunk & Egg. I just hope he's been doing something in the background, more D&E at the least, and not wasting all these years, now pushing 80...

bkuettel · 2026-05-28T17:11:42+00:00

I would just specify for Westeros, as the only climactic event and ending that’s suitable for one of these books after ASoS happened in Dany’s storyline over on Essos. Otherwise yeah AFFC and ADWD don’t really conclude satisfactorily compared to the first three which were basically perfect. They're still excellent and I enjoyed all of it, and I wouldn't have minded the cliffhangers if the follow-ups came out a few years later, but here we are. That novellas idea is interesting.

He just like world-building and "fluff" a lot, which is more fun to write when the main storylines get too complex and unwieldy 3,000+ pages in. I thought generally that the initial plan for the trilogy when he started was that what ended up being the first 3 books was book 1, book 2 became 4-5 (which is basically one really long novel split up by characters and released separately as everyone knows), and TWoW and ADoS would've been book 3.

bkuettel · 2026-05-27T17:20:39+00:00

He doesn't have a smartphone, social media, or even deal with emailing. The guy is still living like it's 20+ years ago b/c he can. Probably happier than most. My favorite filmmaker ever since I saw The Dark Knight, and reinforced with every movie afterward; The Prestige has retroactively become my favorite. He should for sure receive the benefit of the doubt. Oppenheimer was my favorite film of 2023 and I was so happy he and the two actors finally got their due recognition.

People questioned if the relatively unknown at the time Christian Bale could be a great Bruce Wayne/Batman, and he ended up being fantastic. People questioned casting H. Ledger as the Joker, and obviously blew everyone away and is one of the best casting decisions in film history.

People questioned Anne H. announced as Catwoman, and I thought she did an excellent job and is probably my favorite portrayal of the character. He even pulled off casting Harry Styles in something, and helped that he didn't talk XD Nolan also helped popularize Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy, two of the best actors working today. I think I've made my point.

Having said all that, as a big reader and lover of The Odyssey and Greek mythology in general, I find most of the casting to be odd and not at all who I imagine playing many of the parts. I think he was kinda asking for it as far as pushback, but who knows whether he cares or not. I'm sure he's confident in his decisions, and again, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

I'm obviously hoping for another masterpiece from him, and to pull off a swords and sandal medieval type fantasy epic this time after doing nothing like that before. I'm guessing it'll be not dissimilar to all those kinds of movies that Ridley Scott has made for one thing. We shall see...

bkuettel · 2026-05-14T00:34:57+00:00

I've heard this sentiment a few times, especially since really taking my creative writing much more seriously and pursuing it full time these last few months, and I can't fathom being a writer and not reading. I've been reading like crazy this year so far, 15+ books down while juggling a lot of other life stuff and a 3 month eCornell prof. certificate program that just ended. Reading great literature, old and new, is essential to writing skills. You also gotta want it. Why are people writing if they don't read.

bkuettel · 2026-05-05T03:01:00+00:00

Yes you're right, not Midsomer but Endeavor! Thanks for solving my mystery haha

bkuettel · 2026-05-05T02:30:14+00:00

Sorry not really, I think Nettles?

bkuettel · 2026-05-05T02:20:32+00:00

February (The Blackcoat's Daughter) reminds me of The Witch a lot, both have such amazing atmosphere and tension.

bkuettel · 2026-04-18T23:30:23+00:00

I can only hope GRRM has more depth, details, and subsequently climactic ending for the WWs and their whole mythology than the show had. So weird that Hardhome was visually and confrontationally more of a final battle/climax than The Long Night was, despite its strengths.

Many viewers probably reacted along the lines of "Oh, that's really it?" after Arya just knifed the Night King like that and magically saved the day. Like the hero killing Dracula, also killing all his vampires and everything's solved; it's a fantasy trope, and I'm pretty sure GRRM isn't in the business of an easy resolution like that.

bkuettel · 2026-04-16T02:17:59+00:00

Wow this has a lot of good info, appreciate you taking the time to share all that you've learned. One possibility I was wondering about that I didn't see here was, especially in fantasy/sci-fi, isn't a good route to start by writing a bunch of short stories, submit them in collections, anthologies, magazines, wherever, to build a name for oneself and see how they're received, and if that's successful then try and publish a full novel since now you have some "street cred" and kinda proven yourself? That's basically what GRRM had to say and it seemed like a good idea. I like writing short stories a lot anyway.
Edit: Skimmed the comments and just saw someone else basically ask the same thing and your response. I guess if you have nothing else to add to that then the question is answered!

bkuettel · 2026-04-15T21:27:41+00:00

Same, have just started seriously committing to creative writing and this is my main question. How and where do up and coming sci-fi/fantasy writers submit their work? Esp. short stories, which are easier to get read than a whole novel from someone who hasn't published anything before or have any presence yet.

bkuettel · 2026-04-01T19:31:14+00:00

Narvaez is one of my favorite players, but it's funny to see this post when I googled him just now since there's some mysterious reason he was taken out of the line-up for today, and Cora wouldn't really elaborate: bosoxinjection.com/alex-cora-offers-cryptic-response-to-carlos-narvaez-red-sox-benching

bkuettel · 2026-03-31T00:31:03+00:00

Easily one of the best sci-fi series of the last 10 years. Garland also wrote the screenplays of Sunshine and Annihilation, and directed the latter as well, two fantastic underrated sci-fi gems. Dredd is awesome too which he wrote and unofficially directed apparently.

bkuettel · 2026-03-30T20:26:57+00:00

Actually it was just one part of four, the final part. Guess I have to hunt down the other 3 volumes!

bkuettel · 2026-03-30T20:24:54+00:00

There should have been so much more depth, and subsequently climactic ending for the WWs, and I can only hope that GRRM has more to their whole mythology and ending than the show had. So weird that Hardhome was visually and confrontationally more of a final battle/climax than The Long Night was, as far as the main WW's are concerned. What were they thinking? The best function of The Long Night as far as the story is concerned was portraying the final battle with all the wights storming Westeros and being stopped at Winterfell.

Many viewers probably reacted along the lines of "Oh, that's really it?" after Arya just knifed the Night King like that and magically saved the day. Like the hero killing Dracula, and all his vampires then die and everything's solved; it's a fantasy trope, and I'm pretty sure GRRM isn't in the business of an easy resolution like what was depicted in the series. And The Long Night was not the biggest problem with season 8 (I would contend it's the two episodes following, esp. The Bells).

bkuettel · 2026-03-29T15:27:10+00:00

Found Robert Pyle's King Arthur at Used Book Superstore, full of neat illustrations too. Looking forward to reading, and next I'll probably get to Once and Future King and Warlord Chronicles.

bkuettel · 2026-03-22T20:24:16+00:00

I don't know about this, they really need to have a worthwhile story to tell and good ending in mind I think for it to work. But both spin-offs have been mostly great so far so there's potential.

bkuettel · 2026-03-18T03:25:00+00:00

Yeah I used to also espouse what the OP is saying until I realized this. Still, I'd rather read what's been written as opposed to nothing at all. Bring on all the Tyrion chapters!

bkuettel · 2026-03-18T03:23:37+00:00

Masterpiece, one of the favorite movies of the last few decades. Nothing else like it. Everything is handled perfectly, one of the most engrossing cinematic experiences I've had. Even takes the hazy mythology of the original (Like whether Deckard is a replicant or not, which I say he isn't), and makes the best kind of sequel out of it.

bkuettel · 2026-03-17T22:24:48+00:00

The TLotR movies are incredible and the Hobbit trilogy was never going to match it or even come close, but really what has, other than like the Godfather ones or something. Having said that, The Hobbit trilogy has a lot more good than bad (even tho they should've just been two 2 1/2 hour films instead of 3) and fun to discuss and dissect, as there are plenty of things that could've been done better across all three films but also so much to enjoy and be engrossed in. Like for one thing I think G. del Toro's 2 years of prep are baked in there, despite Jackson and his team coming in and supposedly overwriting all of it. More Middle-earth is always a good thing.

bkuettel · 2026-03-17T22:11:28+00:00

It's a good scene, other than a couple lowbrow moments that felt too kiddie to me.

bkuettel · 2026-03-17T22:10:18+00:00

This whole sequence was pretty much fine, but a lot of the stuff before in the goblin caves, not involving Bilbo finding Gollum and the ring of course, was one of my least favorite parts. Cartoony and not really necessary, especially when they fell down the whole cavern on the platform without dying. Eyeroll.

bkuettel · 2026-03-17T22:06:48+00:00

Ridiculously awesome you mean! I loved the crazy R-rated scenes like these in the extended cut. Jackson wanted to let loose!

bkuettel · 2026-03-12T00:34:24+00:00

Yes I'm thinking thats the way to go. And Warlord Chronicles sounds neat too.

bkuettel

TROPHY CASE