‘House of the Dragon’ to End With Season 4, Season 3 to Begin Production in Early 2025

[queenursula]

Send a raven: “House of the Dragon” showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal revealed that the “Game of Thrones” prequel will include two more seasons, concluding with Season 4. https://t.co/CODoiI6QJ4 pic.twitter.com/m6A48lHe0t
- Variety (@Variety) August 5, 2024
During a press conference on Monday discussing the Season 2 finale of “House of the Dragon

Comments

[lanrek]

I've been enjoying the show, but have never read the books. all of the complaints are making me want to read Fire & Blood just to see what all of the fuss is about lol

do I need to have read the previous GoT books to enjoy the prequel??

[queenursula]

I don’t think so but as a heads up the book is written as a history book and the plot of the show is just one section.

[likeiused2]

you don't need to have read the others
it's the woooooorst though, I hated it
I do enjoy watching others watch and complain about series more now
because i'm a lil petty

[theleveebroke]

Someone commented on Reddit, referencing their hardcover edition, that Season 1 ran from pages 352-412. Season 2 only covered pages 412-445. I'd check it out of your local library before committing to a purchase; I haven't personally read it but I've heard really good things from friends who are into fantasy. It might get you into the world.

I did read the first 3 books in the ASoIaF series (Game of Thrones) and wanted to give up partway through the 3rd book. 🫠 If you want to start that series, read a preview before you commit. It's lauded for a reason, but it's not for everyone.

[helyanwe89]

Not really, if you watched GoT I think that's fine. It chronicles the monarchy prior to the start of the main series - it's just nice to have some world building knowledge I think going into it.

I liked the book. I liked asoiaf better with the POV characters in a traditional novel, but I think because I was so invested in the universe when I read F&B (2018 before the Season 8 disaster) I liked it. If I had just picked it up without the knowledge of the main series I doubt I would have enjoyed it because it's a lot of family trees, x happened, then y happened, etc...

[greatljname]

I read the book and wish I'd waited until the show was over so I could be as taken by surprise as other non-book readers. But definitely read the book after it's done. It's fun to compare. No need to have watched or read the ASOIAF series first.

[thereinventions]

You don't.

And as others said, F&B is written as a history book. So you're getting third-person accounts of who did what, who did who, who killed who, which dragon ate what, etc.

The show is filling in what probably "really" happen, if they makes sense.

[fromyourashes]

no but i felt better after a spending an hour going through the targaryen wiki lol

[piratesswoop]

yeah tbh fire and blood is nice but the westeros.org wiki gives the best description of all the events

[fromyourashes]

i was so bored by this season that i couldn't remember any of the characters properly lol. the wiki saved my ass

[lpbrowncoat]

I was so confused when I started the book because WHY do they keep giving their kids the same names?!!! Then you have those lords with random names like Elmo and Kermit.

[fromyourashes]

a handy little nickname here and there would help a lot lol

[moronicus_kyla]

I have a work friend who just went thru A Wiki of Ice and Fire and got by just okay haha. It's less of a real prequel book and more like a supplementary chronicle from three 3rd party sources, with no actual dialogue or insight into the minds of the main characters. Honestly, this is why book fans are a bit more forgiving of HotD - it's supposed to show "what really happened" from the main characters' POVs. But the show changed/omitted some things that are described as fact in the books, so people are either annoyed at that, hoping that things get fixed, or just treating the show as fanfic lol.

But if you want to throw GRRM some money to inspire him to finish his other books, go right ahead^^

[tipping4_2]

i honestly think you will enjoy it more without reading any of the book. or if you do, treat them as completely separate canons. f&b is told like a historical record by different perspectives and condal claims he’s filling in the blanks, but there are enough legitimate changes that they cannot be considered book canon. not claiming fans shouldn’t enjoy the show but the fact that grrm hates this shit should be enough to separate them entirely

[lpbrowncoat]

I'm almost done with reading the book and I like it. I'm not a huge fantasy reader (I prefer non fiction and horror) but its fairly easy to follow along. I'd also repeat what someone else said that if you're into history, you'll like F&B because a majority of it is the history of the Targaryens.

[thereinventions]

On second thought, yes, you do need to read the ASOIAF series. You'll see why the writers made some of the "choices" to tell this story. Moreover, they're bringing back the magic that D&D took out of the books. And honestly, D&D taking out the magic was a big disservice to GRRM's story than what Ryan Condal is doing.

Granted, the ASOIAF characters may spoil HotD for you, but you'll see how that impact is felt almost 200 years later.

You'll also see while F&B is a "history book," it's also Westerosi propaganda. Think of it as learning about what schools taught you how Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue and discovered America and has his own holiday. Then learning years later that actually, CC committed a genocide on Native Americans to rule and take over the land.