House of the Dragon is a prequel story to the most famous tv series “Game of Thrones” airing between (2011 – 2019), it is written by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Candal, for Home box office TV network, the series is based on the novel “A song of ice and fire’ created by Martin.
The story began 200 years before the time of Game of Thrones, and it revolves around the house Targaryen and what happened to them before the show, especially the Targaryan war of succession known as the “Dance of Dragons”.
The first season of House of the Dragon premiered on August 21, 2022 in the United Kingdom, with the first season stretching to 10 episodes. After only five days of the launch, the cast set out to create another season.
Who wrote House of the Dragon?
The House of the Dragon is based on a novel created by George Raymond Martin, and when HBO networks produce the TV series they hired him and Ryan Candal to write the script.
George Raymond Martin
The American novelist and screenwriter George Raymond Martin was born on September 20, 1948, in New Jersey U.S.A. He is renowned for writing in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres, and his most notable works are ‘A Song of Ice and Fire”, “Wild Cards”, and “The Thousand World stories”.
His family was wealthy and worked in the construction business until they were affected by the Great Depression. He remarks that even though he and his family became poor, they still have the soul of greatness.
Martin has French, English, Welsh and German roots and he expresses that in his TV series “Finding Your Roots”.
Martin’s writing career started with science fiction short stories, and he did it professionally in 1970. His first bestselling book was “The Hero” which he sold to Galaxy Magazine in 1971.
He got many awards during his life, including:
- Hugo Awards for best novel – 1975.
- Locus Award for best novel – 1976.
- Locus Award for best Author – 1977.
- Nebula Awards for best Novel – 1979.
- Hugo Awards for best novel – 1980.
- Locus Award for best short stories – 1980.
- Locus Award for best Novel – 1980.
- Locus Award for best Novel – 1981.
- Locus Award for best single Author collection – 1982.
- Primetime Emmy awards for drama series – Game of thrones, season 7 – 2018.
- New Jersey Hall of fame – 2019.
- Primetime Emmy awards for drama series – Game of thrones, season 8 – 2019.
- Honorary Doctorate from North western university – 2021.
And many other Nominations and awards.
Ryan Condal
American author, screenwriter and executive producer born in 1979 in New Jersey – the U.S.A, his most famous works are the TV series “Colony” (2016 – 2018), “Hercules” (2014), and “Rampage” (2018).
He graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of accountancy in 2001, then he worked in pharmaceutical advertising for six years before selling his first script “Galahad” after that he worked on “Hercules: The Thracian war” for universal picture company.
He got many offers for work from the biggest companies in the film industry, and he wrote the series “Queen & Country” in 2010, then he helped in the rewriting of 17th – century epic poem “Paradise Lost”.
In 2012 he wrote “The Art of War” and in (2016 – 2018) he wrote the TV series “Colony”. Finally, he was hired by HBO TV for the TV series “House of the Dragon”, adapted from the novel “A song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin.
Writers by episode
For each episode more screenwriters are involved in the adaptation of the story written by George R.R. Martin, and you can find them as listed below;
| Epi. No. | Epi. Name | Writers | Original air date |
| 1 | The Heirs of the dragon | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | August 21, 2022 |
| 2 | The Rogue Prince | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | August 28, 2022 |
| 3 | Second of his name | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | September 4, 2022 |
| 4 | King of the Narrow Sea | Ira Parker, Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | September 11, 2022 |
| 5 | We Light the Way | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | September 18, 2022 |
| 6 | The Princess and the Queen | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | September 25, 2022 |
| 7 | Driftmark | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | October 2, 2022 |
| 8 | The Lord of the Tides | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | October 9, 2022 |
| 9 | The Green Council | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | October 16, 2022 |
| 10 | The Black Queen | Charmaine De Grate, Ryan J. Condal and Sara Hess. (revisions by) George R.R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal | October 23, 2022 |
House of The Dragon Reception and Criticism
It’s very exciting to follow this series if you like fantasy epics, and you are one of the many fans of Game of Thrones, but most people hate the occasional racial scenes and casual misogyny in this series. However, it is still considered better than Game of throne at showing less barbarity towards women.
