The author was reportedly left out of the loop in the final seasons of the show.

George R.R. Martin is yet to finish his fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, despite its TV show adaptation Game of Thrones ending with a whimper in 2019. The HBO show’s final season received a divisive response with many fans and critics unimpressed with the direction it took. Some actors in the show have also publicly disowned the ending.

Martin’s novels were yet to be complete when seasons 7 and 8 of the show went in an independent direction. The author is still working on the sixth novel of the series titled The Winds of Winter, which will be the penultimate book. However, the writer mentioned that the ending of the books will differ from the controversial finale of the HBO show.

George R.R. Martin Distanced Himself From The Ending of Game of Thrones

Sophie Turner in a still from Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series began with the first novel Game of Thrones, which was published in 1996. The author published three more books before it was adapted into a fantasy show by HBO. Titled Game of Thrones, the show drew a large fan following, turning it into a global phenomenon.

While the novel A Dance with Dragons was the only book to be released during the show’s tenure, Martin has been working on the sixth and penultimate novel The Winds of Winter for the past few years. The lack of an ending led the creators of Game of Thrones to head in an independent direction, leading to the controversial finale of the eighth and final season.

A still from the series finale of Game of Thrones

The ending of the HBO show was criticized by critics and fans alike with many underwhelmed by the character arcs that prominent characters ended up with. However, George R.R. Martin seemingly distances himself from the ending of the show and mentions that he was not consulted during the development of the final two seasons.

Martin also said in an interview with the New York Times that his version would be different,

“By Season 5 and 6, and certainly 7 and 8, I was pretty much out of the loop…I don’t know [why] — you have to ask Dan and David…My ending will be very different.”

Despite him distancing himself from the final seasons of the show, he returned as the creator and executive producer of the prequel spinoff House of the Dragon.

George R.R. Martin Promises A Different Ending In The Winds Of Winter

George R.R. Martin | Credits: WTTW News

George R.R. Martin has been working on the sixth novel The Winds of Winter for over ten years. Much information has been revealed about the book in the past decade such as the expected length of the novel (approximately more than 1,500 pages) and expected points of view the book would explore. However, there has been no release date yet.

Though many promises of the book’s release have been broken, the author seemed to have been adamant about one promise that he will not break, which is to change the ending from that of HBO’s Game of Thrones. In a blog post on his website, the author mentioned that his process of writing a novel was more like tending a garden and that he allowed the story to grow.

Martin mentioned that he always gets asked whether the ending of the books will be different from that of the show, to which he responded positively. He mentioned that though he has had some plot details in his head for years, his story is taking him further away from the HBO show and that the ending would be quite different.

“What I have noticed more and more of late, however, is my gardening is taking me further and further away from the television series. 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. And really, when you think about it, this was inevitable.”

However, he still did not confirm whether the book would come out anytime soon, and neither did he confirm if he was done writing.

Game of Thrones is available to stream on Max.