Over at “Not a Blog”, George R.R. Martin shares the news that his science fix up novel, Tuf Voyaging, has now been reissued by Bantam Spectra. A fix up is a novel that’s constructed from a number of short stories, and in this case these stories tell the tale of Haviland Tuf—a rather eccentric merchant in the far future (in the setting Martin has dubbed the Thousand Worlds) who becomes commander of the most powerful, dangerous ship in the galaxy. They’re alternately amusing and scary, and the final part always gives me chills.
In his post and in comments, Martin ends up responding to questions regarding his recent overall deal with HBO, which will see him pitching and potentially writing and producing new series’ for HBO. Here’s what he had to say about some of the possibilities kicked around (we’ve bolded text for key points):
PPS It has also been suggested that I make TUF into a TV series. Hey, love to. But it’s not up to me. I need to find a studio and network willing to back a new space show to the tune of many millions of dollars, and that’s not easy. I have pitched Tuf before, and hope to pitch him again, Real Soon Now, but honestly, he’s a tough sell. Television likes its starship captains sexy, like Kirk and Captain Tightpants and Rocky Jones. Tuf is a towering, hairless, fat, pompouse fellow who talks like Alfred Hitchcock and loves pussycats. Not an easy part to cast either… but hey, every time I see Conleth Hill playing Varys, I go “Hmmmmmmmm.”
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Tuf would be fun. Dunk and Egg are being discussed. Robert’s Rebellion is part of Ice & Fire, won’t be a separate series. Sandkings was done by the OUTER LIMITS; I retain feature film rights, but television rights are gone.
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Ron Donachie would make a great Abner Marsh… but we’re still trying to sell FEVRE DREAM as a feature film, not as a tv movie or miniseries. And there is a certain Big Name Director who has expressed interest… if he commits…
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The WILD CARDS contracts have been signed, however. That one predates my HBO deal. Melinda Snodgrass has just delivered the first draft of her screenplay to SyFy Films, which is a partnership between Universal Pictures and the SyFy Channel. It is a feature film script, not a television pilot.
It might be relevant to note that Vince Gerardis, who is also attached to Martin’s overall deal, remarked last year on the possibilities of seeing the Dunk & Egg stories brought to the screen, indicating that he thought in a year or two it might be something HBO would pursue.