Season 6 of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin‘s fantasy books, is heading into uncharted territory as all the characters have moved beyond the published word
Season 5 brought the TV series roughly up to date with the books, even revealing a few unpublished developments along the way, and season 6 will progress even further. The next book in the series The Winds of Winter was expected to be released around the same time as Season 6 but the author has now confirmed this will not happen.
In a recent update on his blog Martin said: “The Winds of Winter is not finished.Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words. You’re disappointed, and you’re not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed… but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me. For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, ‘I have completed and delivered The Winds of Winter’ on or before the last day of 2015. But the book’s not done. Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week. Yes, there’s a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters. (Those ‘no pages done’ reports were insane, the usual garbage internet journalism that I have learned to despise). But there’s also a lot still left to write. I am months away still… and that’s if the writing goes well. (Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t.) Chapters still to write, of course… but also rewriting. I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures.”
For smug readers of the books like myself this is devastating news. I could just about handle the events of the Red Wedding as I knew it was coming, addressing this point Martin said: “Given where we are, inevitably, there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of Game of Thrones that have not yet happened in the books. For years my readers have been ahead of the viewers. This year, for some things, the reverse will be true. How you want to handle that… hey, that’s up to you.”
Martin also went on to suggest that the books and the show could be on very different paths: “The case of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire is perhaps unique. I can’t think of any other instance where the movie or TV show came out as the source material was still being written. So when you ask me, “will the show spoil the books,” all I can do is say, “yes and no,” and mumble once again about the butterfly effect. Those pretty little butterflies have grown into mighty dragons. Some of the ‘spoilers’ you may encounter in season six may not be spoilers at all… because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so.”
Season 6 will arrive at some point in April; The Winds of Winter will arrive when George R.R. Martin is ready and he wont be rushed.
#Peace.Love.GameOfThrones
