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The showrunner of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em>\u2014HBO\u2019s next series spinning off the massive success of Game of Thrones<\/em>\u2014says he doesn\u2019t have social media. Still, Ira Parker is \u201cvery aware [that] the fan engagement on all of George R.R. Martin\u2019s stuff is very high.\u201d<\/p>\n That is almost an understatement; between Game of Thrones<\/em>, House of the Dragon<\/em>, and Martin\u2019s books (The Winds of Winter<\/em> when?), there are few other authors who are under such scrutiny from people who feel so passionately about their works. But Parker, whose new series adapts Martin\u2019s Tales of Dunk and Egg<\/em> novellas, thinks the intense interest is a good thing.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope everyone aspires to work on something that\u2019s going to be seen by millions and millions and millions of people all over the world,\u201d he explained in a recent A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> roundtable interview attended by io9 and other journalists. He did admit that it\u2019s \u201ca little scary\u201d but thinks anyone fearful that the show won\u2019t be faithful to the much-loved source material can rest easy.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say anyone who is a fan of the novella will be a fan of the show. We tell the same story; we have the same beginning, same middle, same end. We don\u2019t go off-book. We don\u2019t send Dunk off on any strange side quests,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n The on-screen version of the story stars Peter Claffey as Dunk, a hedge knight who gets in over his (very tall) head when he strikes out on his own for the first time after his master\u2019s death, deciding to enter a nearby tournament he\u2019s somewhat ill-prepared to face.<\/p>\n \u201cI love this novella,\u201d Parker said. \u201cI love Dunk, and George shares that as well. He often says that this is the best thing he\u2019s ever written\u2014which may be a version of him saying that this is his favorite thing that he\u2019s ever written. And I took that to heart very early on. I wanted to make sure that he was happy and saw this properly represented.\u201d<\/p>\n That hasn\u2019t always been the case for Martin adaptations; famously, the author had some not-so-nice things to say about certain story changes made in House of the Dragon<\/em>. In a recent profile in the Hollywood Reporter, Martin described his relationship with Dragon<\/em> showrunner Ryan Condal as \u201cabysmal\u201d and said that by the time the show reached its second season, \u201che basically stopped listening to me\u201d\u2014a feud made very public thanks to Martin\u2019s since-deleted blog post criticizing the series.<\/p>\n But for Parker, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> has been a much more harmonious experience.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we agreed on what it was and who these characters were and what this story was, it was easy. We weren\u2019t fighting about these things. I told him quite early on that I wouldn\u2019t put anything in the show that he did not want in the show. And It never came to that. It never came to him telling me, \u2018Don\u2019t do this, don\u2019t make this change, don\u2019t make this addition.\u2019 Everything was a conversation upfront and there\u2019s no better person to have a conversation about Westeros with than George R.R. Martin,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fun, we riff off of each other, and he\u2019s only been a benefit to this show. Look, is everyone gonna love this show? No. But hopefully everyone will appreciate that we put forth an honest effort. We really did try. We are imperfect in our result\u2014but, you know, so is Dunk.\u201d<\/p>\n A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> premieres January 18 on HBO and HBO Max. It runs for six episodes total with a weekly rollout.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n