‘Game of Thrones’ fans boycott George R.R. Martin’s new book over ‘racist history’
Fans say his co-authors are dragon him down.
“House of the Dragon” executive producer and famed author George R.R. Martin is under fire from readers who vowed to boycott his latest fantasy book over claims his co-authors have a “racist history.”
According to fans, Martin’s co-authors of “The Rise of the Dragon: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Vol. 1,” Linda Antonsson and Elio M. García Jr., made discriminatory remarks about casting white characters from his books with black actors, reports Variety.
The Post has reached out to Antonsson, Martin García and “The Rise of the Dragon” publisher Ten Speed Press for comment.
The book, slated to arrive in bookstores on Oct. 25, is being advertised as a detailed introduction to House Targaryen, the key characters in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series. Martin tweeted about how to pre-order the book last week, and a barrage of heated social media posts came pouring in.
“I will not be buying anything with Linda and Elio attached to it,” wrote one Twitter user.
“You and your team have heard the outcry from fans pleading to end your association with Linda and Elio. At this point, it’s truly misplaced loyalty on your part,” another Twitter user slammed.
“They’re HURTING the people who love this world, these stories, these characters. It needs to end. Please, end it.”
Both Antonsson and García Jr., who are married, adamantly refute the allegations that they are racist, although fans are calling for Martin to sever ties.
Martin first recruited the co-authors to be “Game of Thrones” fact-checkers for his book “A Feast for Crows” after they created a blog site called Westros.org back in 1999.
In 2014, Antonsson and García Jr. co-authored “The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones,” an illustrated companion book for the novels.
Critics of the duo have pointed to several blog posts of Antonsson’s — including one from March 2012 — where she complained about an actor of color being cast as a character who was described as being white in the book.
Recently, Antonsson allegedly harped on the casting of Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys in “House of the Dragon.”
“There are no black Valyrians and there should not be any in the show,” wrote Antonsson.
“If George had indeed made the Valyrians black instead of white, as he mused on his ‘Not a Blog’ in 2013, and this new show proposed to make the Velaryons anything other than black, we would have had the same issue with it and would have shared the same opinion.”
The war over inclusive casting extends beyond “House of the Dragon.” Several fantasy shows including Amazon Prime’s ” The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and Disney+’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” have attracted several racist comments online for their casting choices.
New episodes of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” premiere every Sunday at 9 p.m.
