Forget about winter, George R.R. Martin says change is coming to the Game of Thrones universe.
The acclaimed author of the GOT novels is hard at work on The Winds of Winter, the penultimate title in the series. He let fans behind the curtain and revealed that his writing process all relates back to...gardening?
"I have been at work in my winter garden. Things are growing and changing, as does happen with us gardeners" Martin wrote in a July 8 blog post. "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."
As he uses his literary green thumb, Martin said he's found himself straying from the events depicted on the Game of Thrones series, which 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," he revealed. "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."
For instance, Martin wrote, "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."
Perhaps the biggest reveal Martin made is that "not all of the characters who survived until the end of Game of Thrones will survive until the end." Let the debates begin!
On that note, Martin wrote that he's well aware people will compare-and-contrast the book and the series—and he's just fine with that.
"No doubt, once I am done, there will be huge debate about which version of the story is better," he admitted. "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."
It's a very busy time in the in the Game of Thrones universe, with the highly-anticipated series House of the Dragon premiering August 21 on HBO. The series—starring Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy—is based on Martin's book Fire & Blood and is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, providing a history on House Targaryen.
In addition, Martin confirmed a Jon Snow series starring Kit Harington is in the works.
"I don't really have a spare moment today, truth be told, but I am making one, since the news has broken about the Jon Snow development and I am being deluged with requests for comment," he teased on his blog June 23. "So...Yes, there is a Jon Snow show in development."
Let the productive gardening continue.