GRRM praises Murderbot

George R.R. Martin publicly endorsed Apple TV+’s “Murderbot,” writing in July 2025 that the show “did them justice” after watching the adaptation of Martha Wells’ books. (georgerrmartin.com) Martin made the comment on his “Not a Blog” site in a roundup of recent science fiction viewing, where he also praised “Andor” and called it that year’s standout among “Star Wars” spinoffs. (georgerrmartin.com) “Murderbot” premiered on Apple TV+ on May 16, 2025 with two episodes, ran for 10 episodes through July 11, 2025, and stars Alexander Skarsgård as a self-hacking security construct that wants to be left alone to watch serials. (apple.com) Apple said the series was created and showrun by Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, adapted from Wells’ Hugo and Nebula Award-winning “The Murderbot Diaries,” with Wells credited as a consulting producer. (apple.com) Martin’s praise landed after Apple had already renewed the show for a second season on July 10, 2025, one day before the season one finale. Apple described the renewal as a response to the show’s acclaim and put Skarsgård’s name at the center of the announcement. (apple.com) By April 2026, “Murderbot” was still carrying a 96 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 76 reviews listed by the site. Metacritic also listed the series among its reviewed 2025 Apple TV titles. (rottentomatoes.com, metacritic.com) The endorsement also connected two adaptation-heavy franchises. Martin is the author of “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the book series behind HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” while “Murderbot” comes from Wells’ novella “All Systems Red,” the first entry in a long-running series about a corporate security unit with free will. (georgerrmartin.com, apple.com) What changed is not the show itself but the company it keeps: Martin put “Murderbot” in the same public conversation as prestige television science fiction before any 2026 retrospective needed to do it for him. (georgerrmartin.com, aceshowbiz.com)