‘Game of Thrones’ books ending will be different from TV show, says George R.R. Martin

'Game of Thrones' author George R.R. Martin at the Governors Ball after the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Martin said the long-anticipated final two books of the 'A Song of Ice and Fire series' will feature a different ending than the Game Of Thrones TV show that concluded in 2019. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News SErvice

Winter’s not coming, but a new ending could be.

In a new interview, George R.R. Martin said the long-anticipated final two books of the A Song of Ice and Fire series will feature a different ending than the Game Of Thrones TV show that concluded in 2019.

Following a divisive final season, fans have done everything from calling for HBO to try again to peppering Martin for updates on the unfinished books at every opportunity. Martin teased his devout followers with a tantalising idea: something else.

Speaking with WTTW Chicago, Martin said the unfinished The Winds of Winter and untitled final book (rumoured to be A Dream of Spring) will go in a “somewhat different [direction]” than the TV show.

Martin put some of the blame for the show’s ending on his own writer’s block that led to the show needing to write new material for several seasons without the source’s safety net.

“Looking back, I wish I’d stayed ahead of the books, ” Martin said. “My biggest issue there was when they began the series, I had four books already in print, and the fifth one came out just as the series was starting in 2011. I had a five-book head-start, and these are gigantic books, as you know; I never thought they would catch up with me, but they did.”

“They caught up with me and passed me, ” Martin said. “That made it a little strange, because now the show was ahead of me, and the show was going in somewhat different directions. I’m still working on the book, but you’ll see my ending when that comes out.”

While the idea of a different ending to the series is a welcome prospect for some, fans will probably have to keep waiting as the notoriously slow-moving Martin did not provide an update about when the books might actually come out.

“I will make no predictions on when I will finish, ” Martin said. “Every time I do, a******* on the internet take that as a ‘promise’, and then wait eagerly to crucify me when I miss the deadline. All I will say is that I am hopeful.” – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service

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