George R.R. Martin reassures fans the books won't end like Game Of Thrones

George R.R. Martin, one of America’s most prolific authors (of blog posts about his books), has issued a new missive today on his “Not A Blog,” touching on the question that’s haunted him ever since the TV show based on his works aired its big finale back in 2019. To wit: Will the end of A Song Of Ice And Fire shit the bed the same way Game Of Thrones’ did?

Martin being Martin—i.e., a pretty thoughtful guy overall, and protective of his writing process and the world that he’s created—he’s usually pretty quiet about the plots of his forthcoming books. (As he notes in the post, it’s why he’s stopped doing readings from his decade-in-the-writing The Winds Of Winter, since “If I had kept on with the readings, half the book might be out by now.”)

All that being said (and with the caveat that he’s always free to change his mind), Martin made about as definitive a statement as we could ever hope to expect about the ending of ASOIAF this week:

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. (Some will, sure. Of course. Maybe most. But definitely not all) ((Of course, I could change my mind again next week, with the next chapter I write. That’s gardening)).

And the ending? You will need to wait until I get there. Some things will be the same. A lot will not.

Martin also goes out of his way to call out differences between his books and the show—shoutout to Lady Stonehart—and generally makes it clear that his writing “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.”