George R.R. Martin Wants House of the Dragon to Win More Emmys Than Amazon's Lord of the Rings

George R.R. Martin is stoking the rivalry between Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. In a recent interview with the Independent, Martin said he wants his Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon to win more Emmys than Amazon's upcoming series The Rings of Power.

"I know a lot of articles, the minute the dates were announced, it's: 'Oh, the battle for fantasy supremacy. It's Rings of Power versus House of Dragon, who will win?' I don't know why they always have to do that," said the author. "I hope both shows succeed. I'm competitive enough. I hope we succeed more. If they win six Emmys, and I hope they do, I hope we win seven. But nonetheless, it's good for fantasy. I love fantasy. I love science fiction. I want more shows on television."

House of the Dragon, premiering August 21 on HBO, is based on Martin's 2018 novel "Fire & Blood." The drama takes place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of the Targaryen civil war.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's appendices of "The Lord of the Rings" books. The fantasy epic premieres September 2 on Prime Video.

"It's kind of a weird deal, as you know," said Martin. "Amazon bought Tolkien, but they didn't actually get any of the books. They didn't get 'Lord of the Rings,' they didn't get 'The Hobbit,' they didn't even get 'The Silmarillion.' I don't think they got 'Farmer Giles of Ham' or 'Leaf by Niggle,' but they got the appendices, I guess, and they're constructing a Second Age story about that. There's a lot of myth about that, so it'll be interesting to see what they did."

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Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.