Game Of Thrones Books Won’t End Same Way As The Show, And People Will Be Upset, Author Says

Author George R.R. Martin has provided another update on the next A Song of Ice and Fire book and the wider series. Writing on his Not A Blog, Martin said one of the most frequent questions he gets is whether or not his book series will end the same way as the HBO show did. It will not, Martin said.

Martin said he is like a gardener when it comes to writing in that his stories “grow and evolve and change” as he writes. He said he has a general idea of where the story is headed and what the big set pieces will be, but he is also changing his mind and coming up with new ideas all the time.

“I have been at work in my winter garden. Things are growing… and changing, as does happen with us gardeners. Things twist, things change, new ideas come to me (thank you, muse), old ideas prove unworkable, I write, I rewrite, I restructure, I rip everything apart and rewrite again, I go through doors that lead nowhere, and doors that open on marvels. Sounds mad, I know,” he said. “But it’s how I write. Always has been. Always will be. For good or ill.”

Lately, Martin has observed that his story for The Winds of Winter is taking him “further and further away from the television series.” Some parts of what happened in Game of Thrones the TV series will also appear in The Winds of Winter, though “maybe not in quite the same ways,” Martin teased. But overall, the rest of The Winds of Winter will be “quite different” from the TV series, Martin said.

“And really, when you think about it, this was inevitable. The novels are much bigger and much much more complex than the series. Certain things that happened on HBO will not happen in the books. And vice versa,” Martin said.

The Winds of Winter will have feature characters never seen in the show, including Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, Jon Connington, and Aeron Damphair.

“They will all have chapters, and the things they do and say will impact the story and the major characters who were on the show,” Martin said.

He added that he’s written “legions” of secondary characters who are important to the plot of The Winds of Winter, including Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, the Tattered Prince, Penny, Brown Ben Plumm, the Shavepate, Marwyn the Mage, Darkstar, and Jeyne Westerling.

The HBO show already deviated significantly from Martin’s writing. He pointed out that Euron Greyjoy is “way, way, way, way different” from the Euron in his books. And part of what’s taking Martin so long to write The Winds of Winter is figuring out what to do with characters like Quaithe, Rickon Stark, and Jeyne Pool, among others.

The Winds of Winter will also introduce new characters not seen on any season of HBO, Martin said. “No new viewpoints, I promise you that, but with all these journeys and battles and scheming to come, inevitably our major players will be encountering new people in lands far and near,” he said.

In a bigger development, Martin also clarified that not all of the characters who survived until the end of HBO’s Game of Thrones will make it out alive when Martin completes his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Similarly, not all characters who died on HBO’s show will die in A Song of Ice and Fire, though “maybe most” actually will, but not all, Martin said.

“Of course, I could change my mind again next week, with the next chapter I write. That’s gardening,” Martin hedged.

As for the overall ending, Martin said “some things will be the same. A lot will not.” Martin said he expects this to be divisive.

“No doubt, once I am done, there will be huge debate about which version of the story is better. Some people will like my book, others will prefer the television show. And that’s fine, you pays your money and your make your choice,” Martin said. “(I do fear that a certain proportion of fans are so angry about how long Winds has taken me that they are prepared to hate the book, unread. That saddens me, but there nothing I can do about it, but write the best book that I can, and hope that when it comes out most fans will read it with clean hands and an open mind).”

In addition to writing The Winds of Winter, Martin is a producer on the new Game of Thrones prequel TV series, House of the Dragon, which premieres in August. He is also working on the new Jon Snow TV series that stars Kit Harington.