In spite of the fact that Game of Thrones is leading towards its conclusion, the A Song of Ice and Fire saga is far from being finished. Writer George R.R. Martin is taking his time finishing his epic saga. Martin has yet to complete the last two books, and the release dates of The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are far from being set.
Meanwhile, the show has taken a different direction from Martin’s work, and is getting ready to wrap up the story. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the author answered a question related to Sansa Stark marrying Ramsay Bolton, a wedding which never happened in the books.
“Well, yeah — of course you have an emotional reaction,” Martin said. “I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure. But I’ve been on the other side of it, too. I’ve adapted work by other people, and I didn’t do it exactly the way they did it, so…”
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Then Martin admitted that the show’s deviation from the book is mainly his fault, since he “should’ve finished this thing four years ago”.
“Some of the deviation, of course, is because I’ve been so slow with these books,” Martin added. “I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here. It’s two variations of the same story, or a similar story, and you get that whenever anything is adapted.”
Afterwards, the writer explained the differences between his books and the HBO’s adaptation. He compared them to the similar differences Gone with the Wind had.
“The analogy I’ve often used is, to ask how many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Do you know the answer to that? Three children in the book, one by each husband” Martin added. “She had one child in the movie. And in real life, of course, Scarlett O’Hara had no children, because she never existed. Margaret Mitchell made her up. The book is there. You can pick it up and read Mitchell’s version of it, or you can see the movie and see David Selznick’s version of it. I think they’re both true to the spirit of the work, and hopefully that’s also true of Game of Thrones on one hand, and A Song of Ice and Fire on the other hand.”
Game of Thrones airs Sunday, April 28. Are you happy with the differences between Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
