George R.R Martin to be an executive producer of new dystopian HBO series

Creator of the fantasy universe that spawned Game Of Thrones, George R.R Martin, has confirmed that he will be one of the executive producers on an HBO adaption of Nnedi Okorafor's acclaimed novel Who Fears Death.

The book is set in post-apocalyptic Sudan, where the social heirarchy is based on skin tone and ethnicity. It features magic, family drama and recrimination - all of which sounds right up Martin's street.

The news that the series had been snapped up by HBO was first broken by the author Okorafor herself in a tweet:

My novel WHO FEARS DEATH has been optioned by @HBO & is now in early development as a TV series with George RR Martin as executive producer. pic.twitter.com/POF7Dj2hWP

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) July 10, 2017

After subsequent reporting of Martin's involvement circulated, the man himself took to his blog at http://grrm.livejournal.com/542263.html to crankily clarify matters:

"Yes, HBO is developing Nnedi Okorafor's novel WHO FEARS DEATH as a series.

"Yes, I am attached to the project, as an Executive Producer.

"I am pleased and excited to confirm that much. I met Nnedi a few years ago, and I'm a great admirer of her work... Even in this Golden Age of television drama, there's nothing like WHO FEARS DEATH on the small screen at present, and if I can play a part, however small, in helping to bring this project to fruition, I'll be thrilled.

I will be an Executive Producer on WHO FEARS DEATH but I will not be the Executive Produce, i.e. the showrunner. That's an important distinction. Should we move forward, there will be a number of Executive Producers, and probably some Co-Executive Producers and Supervising Producers and Producers as well. This is television."

Martin went on to say that he would not be involved in writing the pilot script or in adapting the novel, and probably wouldn't write any episodes.

He also said that he "probably won't be writing episodes of ANY television shows until Winds of Winter is done and delivered, and that goes for the five Game of Thrones successor shows as well."

In any case, it looks like Martin will be a very busy man for some time to come. Working with fascinating material like Nnedi Okorafor's novel should make that rewarding.