More dragons? More dragons! Deadline reports that an adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s 1979 novel Roadmarks is in the works for HBO. George R.R. Martin and Game of Thrones producer Vince Gerardis will executive produce the series, which will have Kalinda Vazquez (Once Upon a Time, Fear the Walking Dead) as showrunner, writer, and co-executive producer.
Roadmarks is, in short, about a magical highway created by dragons.
To be more precise: a time-traveling highway that connects all times and possible histories. A few select people can access the highway, and as Deadline explains, “Some might use it to explore the vast mysteries of the world, but for others…the road might be their only hope to survive, rewrite life-altering mistakes, and create a better future for themselves and the ones they love.”
Roadmarks seems to be out of print at the moment, though surely that will change if the developing show comes to fruition. The short novel (under 200 pages) was nominated for a Locus Award in 1980. The concept does seem to lend itself to episodic storytelling; highways have exits; all the exits lead to different places and times; every one can be its own story. Also, the novel features two poetry collections as characters.
Martin noted in a blog post earlier this month that his “plate is full to overflowing.” He also said that he wrote “hundreds and hundreds of pages of The Winds of Winter in 2020,” and that 2021 may be for finishing the book, though he refuses to make predictions on when that will be. With multiple TV adaptations in the works, that seems wise.
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