George RR Martin has said Game Of Thrones slowed down his literary output.

The successful author of A Song Of Ice And Fire created a fictional universe which reached a huge global audience in the HBO hit series.

Martin has said that far from galvanise him into writing more books in the series, Game Of Thrones slowed him down.

He told The Observer: “I don’t think [the TV series] was very good for me.

“The very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down.

“Every day I sat down to write and even if I had a good day…I’d feel terrible because I’d be thinking, ‘My God, I have to finish the book. I’ve only written four pages when I should have written 40’.”

The author had previously said that the invitations and other trappings of literary fame had become a distraction from his work.

Martin said that he needed to return to the writing room and spend more time in Westeros.

He said: “The success of the series, and the books and the TV show, has gotten me a lot of invitations. A lot of people know who I am.

“Especially four, five, six years ago maybe, I said yes to too many of those things.

“It made it hard to concentrate on the books.”