"THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done."
The Game of Thrones phenomenon began with one man, and now George R.R. Martin plans to finish what he started.
The author of the wildly popular books-turned-TV series posted a blog entry on Monday titled "An Ending," following the final episode of the HBO show. GoT showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff went off the fantasy novels for the first five seasons, but Martin has yet to finish the book series, leading the show to create its own storylines for the final three seasons, with Martin giving them notes.
"It has been a wild ride, to say the least," the 70-year-old author says of working on the TV series, before teasing, "Let me say this much -- last night was an ending, but it was also a beginning."
Martin assures fans that he does plan to finish the books. "And 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," he vows. "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."
As for whether the books will have the same controversial ending as the series finale, Martin wavers, "Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes."
"I am working in a very different medium than David and Dan, never forget. They had six hours for this final season. I expect these last two books of mine will fill 3000 manuscript pages between them before I’m done… and if more pages and chapters and scenes are needed, I’ll add them," he explains. "...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…"
Martin promises fans of his books that they will find out what happens to "Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet."
He adds, "And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…"
"Book or show, which will be the 'real' ending? It’s a silly question. How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?" he writes, referring to the character in the movie and book Gone With the Wind.
Martin concludes, "How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet."
Here's a look at how the Internet and the cast responded to Sunday's GoT series finale:
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