George R.R. Martin: Game of Thrones books will end differently to TV show

The 73-year-old author is currently working on ‘The Winds of Winter’ – the penultimate story in the series – and insists the climax of his stories will be different to that of the fantasy series, where the ending divided opinion and was criticised by many viewers.

Writing in a blog post, George explained: “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, 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.”

The author continued: “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 quite in the same ways)… but much of the rest will be quite different.

“The novels are much bigger and much much more complex than the series. Certain things that happened on HBO will not happen in the books. And vice versa.”

Martin wrote that he expects people to draw comparisons between the novels and the TV show and can understand why fans will do so.

He said: “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 pay your money and you make your choice.”