Jack Brickman
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I listen to the audio books of game of thrones and George R R Martin is extremely detailed in everything he writes. Adapting it to a script had to be extremely easy. It's pretty clear when Benioff and Weiss didn't have the books to write from, that the detail and pace changed for the show. They had to make it up almost from scratch, whatever conversations and notes Martin gave wasn't going to be anywhere close to the books.
I don't think it was that so much as that they didn't really plan the show properly from the outset. Realistically, Game of Thrones would probably need ten to twelve seasons to properly adapt the books, and blockbuster, expensive shows like Game of Thrones don't get ten seasons because, at a certain point, they have to do contract renewals with their actors. And if a show is a blockbuster hit, those actors are gonna expect to get paid like the now-famous people they are.
You also have to factor in the fatigue of making a show like this. Most of the actors have spoken about how miserable filming the show is, at least the ones involved in the battles. That's probably doubly true for the showrunners.
By adapting the books at such a rigid book per season pace early, though, they unwittingly screwed themselves later, because at some point they realized this thing had to actually end but they were nowhere fucking near the end point, which meant they had to fast-track it.