George R.R. Martin wasn’t imprisoned for not finishing The Winds of Winter by July 2020, but he still has regrets. “Looking back, I wish I’d stayed ahead of the books,” the A Song of Ice and Fire author said in an interview with WTTW Chicago.
“My biggest issue was when they began that series, I had four books already in print, and the fifth one came out just as the series was starting in 2011,” Martin continued. “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.”
Game of Thrones premiered on HBO on April 17, 2011. A Dance with Dragons, the fifth in the planned seven-book series, was published in July. In the 10 years since, including eight seasons, 73 episodes, and seemingly countless announced spin-offs later, readers are still waiting for Martin to wrap up his acclaimed book series.
The one positive from the show lapping Martin is that he can come up with a different (and better) ending. “That made it a little strange because now the show was ahead of me and the show was going in somewhat different directions,” explains Martin. “So, I’m still working on the book, but you’ll see my ending when that comes out.”
Martin’s ending will reportedly still involve [spoiler alert?] Bran becoming king, as it was reportedly his idea, but maybe — hopefully — in a different way than how it happened on the show. The show was the first draft; the book is the real deal. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss won the battle, but George R.R. Martin won the war.
(Via Den of Geek)