Game of Thrones author George RR Martin says books can have different ending from TV series

A lot has been written and said about the Game of Thrones ending. While a few have loved it, others think there could have been a better climax.

Meanwhile, George RR Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire novels that the HBO series is based on, posted a goodbye note to the series ending, a day after the ending was aired.

“It is hard to believe it is over, if truth be told. It has been a wild ride, to say the least,” he wrote.

He also responded to fans asking him if the ending of the books will be the same as the series. “How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different? Well... yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.”

He added that since his medium is different from that of the creators of the series - David Benioff and D.B. Weiss - there will be difference in the characters who are alive and their development in the books. “There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books. And yes, there will be unicorns... of a sort…”

Martin has been working on The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, the next two books, last one being the finale. Talking about that, he said in a blog post, “I’m writing. Winter is coming, I told you, long ago... and so it is. THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done. I won't say when, I've tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself ... but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.”

In his blog post, Martin also said that he is working with HBO on the development of five new series, ‘some having nothing whatsoever to do with the world of Westeros.’

Game of Thrones’ finale aired on May 19 (May 20 6.30 am in India) - an end to an eight-season Television show.