According to author George R.R. Martin, the contents found in his upcoming book The Winds of Winter will differ heavily from the ending of the Game of Thrones series.
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When HBO’s Game of Thrones adaptation ended to fans not being incredibly happy with how things played out, many wondered if Martin’s books would deviate from how the series ended. According to a recent blog update by the author, it seems like that will be the case after all.
“What I have noticed more and more of late, however, is my gardening is taking me further and further away from the television series,” Martin said, referring to his writing as gardening in that he is constantly adding and taking away things. “Yes, some of the things you saw on HBO in Game of Thrones you will also see in The Winds of Winter (though maybe not in quite the same ways)… but much of the rest will be quite different.”
Martin went on to note that while the show and novel series do share things like larger set pieces in their endings, everything else will likely end up being different to how much more can be fit into the book.
“And really, when you think about it, this was inevitable,” said Martin. “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. I have viewpoint characters in the books never seen on the show: Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, Jon Connington, 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.”
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Finally, Martin all but confirmed that the ending of Game of Thrones would differ extremely from how the A Song of Ice & Fire series ends, although he did tease that some things may end up staying the same as they did in the show.
“One thing I can say, in general enough terms that I will not be spoiling anything: not all of the characters who survived until the end of Game of Thrones will survive until the end of A Song of Ice & Fire, and not all of the characters who died on Game of Thrones will die in A Song of Ice & Fire. Some will, sure. Of course. Maybe most. But definitely not all. Of course, I could change my mind again next week, with the next chapter I write. That’s gardening.
“And the ending? You will need to wait until I get there. Some things will be the same. A lot will not.”
