Game of Thrones author George R.R Martin has released a new update on how progress is coming along for The Winds of Winter, the sixth novel of his A Song of Ice & Fire series, while also speaking on how his upcoming novels in the series will differ from the HBO adaptation of his books, Game of Thrones.
The new update about the novel comes from Martin’s Not A Blog website, where he spoke about his writing process and discussed a concept that he has previously talked about which is the two types of writers: the architect and the gardener. The former is someone who has every detail of a story planned out while a gardener while knowing the major details and beats of the story, will allow it to change and evolve over time, and Martin has made it no secret that he falls into the latter category. "I generally know where I am going, sure… the final destinations, the big set pieces, they have been my head for years… for decades, in the case of A Song of Ice & Fire," said Martin. "There are lots of devils in the details, though, and sometimes the ground changes under my feet as the words pour forth."
With that being said, he went on to speak about The Winds of Winter and how the upcoming novel will differ from the HBO series that ran from 2011 to 2019. "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."
Martin also spoke on the expected divide in fans as to which version of the story they will prefer between the book and the television series:
No doubt, once I am done, there will be huge debate about which version of the story is better. Some people will like my book, others will prefer the television show. And that’s fine, you pays your money and your make your choice. (I do fear that a certain proportion of fans are so angry about how long 'Winds' has taken me that they are prepared to hate the book, unread. That saddens me, but there nothing I can do about it, but write the best book that I can, and hope that when it comes out most fans will read it with clean hands and an open mind).
Martin also wanted to let fans know that just because you've seen the ending of one version of the story, doesn't mean all the characters' fates are secured in his telling of the story. "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."
The Song of Ice & Fire nsries bega with its first novel, A Game of Thrones, which was published in 1996 and is planned to contain a total of seven novels, with the most recent novel, A Dance with Dragons being released in 2011. The Winds of Winter will be the sixth book which will be followed by the series' conclusion in A Dream of Spring. With it being over a decade since the previous novel, fans of the series are always looking for new information or details about the upcoming book. This has only been added after the explosive success of the Game of Thrones television series. Martin spoke on the amount of time there has been between books and how his process plays a large part in that, saying:
I have been at work in my winter garden. Things are growing… and changing, as does happen with us gardeners. Things twist, things change, new ideas come to me (thank you, muse), old ideas prove unworkable, I write, I rewrite, I restructure, I rip everything apart and rewrite again, I go through doors that lead nowhere, and doors that open on marvels. Sounds mad, I know. But it’s how I write. Always has been. Always will be. For good or ill.
The Winds of Winter is not the only Game of Thrones content currently in development, with HBO having several spin-offs in the works including a series starring Kit Harrington's Jon Snow and a prequel series called House of The Dragon, along with several others.