So if the Show catches up with the Books

[LordStoneheart]

I think he has a golden opportunity to write two different endings to the series, a chance authors rarely get without seemingly retconning whole books.

He can continue on with the books the way he's always wanted, but with the show he can give another ending, one he maybe wanted at some point but went in a different direction.

My own story plots have changed a lot as I've grown up, so I could totally understand if the show surpassed the books with his say so and input. I'd watch it just as faithfully.

[Petyr Patter]

If the show outpaces Martin? How about when?

Keep in mind, the show is filmed well before it actually airs. If Winds of Winter comes out say November of 2014, it will already be to late to include ANY of it in the 2015 season (on pace for Season 5). Before filming, actors need to be auditioned, casted, and contracted. Locations for filming need to be found. Budgets need to be calculated. And then there's CGI, which is its own set of hurdles.

Sure, Martin can show some of his writing, but right now he'll barely get WoW into the producers hands in time, if at all. ADoS? Forget about it. Martin just can't write fast enough, even knowing much of the plot already.

I suspect the solution will be to take the story in a very different direction starting in season 5, and try to bring the narrative to a completion by Season 7 or 8.

[LordStoneheart]

If the show outpaces Martin? How about when?

Keep in mind, the show is filmed well before it actually airs. If Winds of Winter comes out say November of 2014, it will already be to late to include ANY of it in the 2015 season (on pace for Season 5). Before filming, actors need to be auditioned, casted, and contracted. Locations for filming need to be found. Budgets need to be calculated. And then there's CGI, which is its own set of hurdles.

Sure, Martin can show some of his writing, but right now he'll barely get WoW into the producers hands in time, if at all. ADoS? Forget about it. Martin just can't write fast enough, even knowing much of the plot already.

I suspect the solution will be to take the story in a very different direction starting in season 5, and try to bring the narrative to a completion by Season 7 or 8.

Not necessarily. Why can't he share the chapters and loose structure with them? If Winds comes out Nov. 2014 then it would have been heavily reread and edited for the past few months, making it easy for George to show it to D&D before or during the writing and filming of season 5. since that's going on for S4 right now, the summer before the fall release of book 6 would be pretty easy to work with

[GGK1986]

Martin keeps giving us credit being the greatest fans in the world, but what does he really do to thank us? He takes 22 years to write 5 books (he started working on Thrones back in '91) and is just all about the money. With the countless side projects and books, promotion tours he does and not to forget the television adaption. Let's face it; it's all about the money. Ofcourse, that's just the world of television, and that's where Martin is rooted as well (seeing he worked on the original Beauty and the Beast television series as well).

I am grateful he started the series, but whenever I see him doing interviews; I just see a fat old man who is filling his pockets, saying what he thinks the viewers and readers want to hear and just enjoying all the attention a little too much.

[The_Iron_Captain]

Martin keeps giving us credit being the greatest fans in the world, but what does he really do to thank us? He takes 22 years to write 5 books (he started working on Thrones back in '91) and is just all about the money. With the countless side projects and books, promotion tours he does and not to forget the television adaption. Let's face it; it's all about the money. Ofcourse, that's just the world of television, and that's where Martin is rooted as well (seeing he worked on the original Beauty and the Beast television series as well).

I am grateful he started the series, but whenever I see him doing interviews; I just see a fat old man who is filling his pockets, saying what he thinks the viewers and readers want to hear and just enjoying all the attention a little too much.

This post is 100% full of shit. How is it all about the money? The guy lives in a regular sized house in Santa Fe. If he wanted to he could live in a huge mansion in Hollywood. Plus he has rejected huge money for the rights to his books multiple times because most people just wanted to just tell certain storylines. Like just Jon's story or Dany's for example. It was only when he met D&D and they told him their vision for telling the whole story that he agreed to sell the rights.

[LordStoneheart]

Martin keeps giving us credit being the greatest fans in the world, but what does he really do to thank us? He takes 22 years to write 5 books (he started working on Thrones back in '91) and is just all about the money. With the countless side projects and books, promotion tours he does and not to forget the television adaption. Let's face it; it's all about the money. Ofcourse, that's just the world of television, and that's where Martin is rooted as well (seeing he worked on the original Beauty and the Beast television series as well).

I am grateful he started the series, but whenever I see him doing interviews; I just see a fat old man who is filling his pockets, saying what he thinks the viewers and readers want to hear and just enjoying all the attention a little too much.

You're seeing what you want to see. Just recently he posted on his blog that he went into a random bookstore and signed all the books of his they had and told fans to grab them while they lasted.

Also, have you tried to write a 400000+ word book? I've been working on a book for a little over a year and I have less that 110000 words, and not nearly as much characters, plot, and setting. Even giving him credit for the amount of time and detail that needs to go into each book, who says he has to finish them fast or even at all? He certainly isn't obligated to do either. He could just as easily have just stopped after aSoS and never looked back, which is his right to do so.

If it was all about the money he'd have sold it to a large movie studio, not HBO.

[rystine]

I know that most here are not like this, but for me personally I get just as much enjoyment out of a book whether I've seen it's on screen adaptation or not. And the opposite is simply not true for me.

As such, when the show catches up with, and passes, the books I will have no problem watching the show as it airs.

And I would honestly be very surprised if GRRM was able to finish ADOS before the show reaches its end. Pessimistic I know, but that's how I feel.

[bloody_mummer]

Like many here, I look at the TV show as a different telling of the same story. The story is more than just the plot points we get. I analogize it to listening to two musicians playing the same piece in very different ways.

[Tquinn BC]

Somehow, somehow I have faith in Martin.

The books will finish first, by the old gods and the new.

[binga]

No I will not watch it. I would consider it an abomination. Okay abomination is a silly word I admit, I just wont like it. As a fan of the books I think we should give Martin a fair shot at completing it. Please give him 10 seasons total. That would mean after season 8, A Dream of Spring must be done. There is no reason David and Dan have to complete this project. It is owned by HBO. With complete respect to the incredible work they have put in, there are plenty of talented people who would be dying to work on this.

[poostorm]

Supposedly, HBO is shooting for 7 seasons. They MIGHT push it to 8, and I think they ultimately will. I will watch it, and I do not see ADoS being out by the final season, the TV series will certainly end prior to the books. I just wonder how much they will be able to put together with Martin's "broad strokes"? I know he has a general idea for how things will come together, but the specifcs will make a big deal and will be necessary for the show.

It seems it would be tough to watch someone else finish your own story.

Will the show runners work out their own stories? Most of what they've changed in the story now has just been to keep the # of characters down and keep it simple. This would be knowing that A will get to D, but they'll have to make up B & C on their own.

[binga]

I am not sure why they would be eager to end this show by season 7. Assuming the ratings stay steady I think this is a very profitable show for them. If they can do 8 seasons I am sure they can be coaxed into approving a season 9. Lets say George finishes Winds of Winter by early 2015. That would give him about three years to write A Dream of Spring. He can get about 1000 of his 1500 pages done in that time and leave the rest up to the producers. The last season, season 9, can just be Dream of Spring.

[Petyr Patter]

Arya

Bram

Hodor

Sansa

Jon

Stannis

Davos

Melisandre

Cersei

Tyrion

Jaime

Brienne

Littlefinger

Varys

Danaerys

Jorah

Barristan

Margaery

Sam

Daario

Roose

Ramsay

Theon

Yara

This is my off the top of my head of current characters the show would have extraordinary difficulty writing or recasting should the current actor become unavailable beyond season 4. There are 24 of them. We can argue about who I missed or who doesn't belong, but I think 24 is a nice ballpark number that is close. Holding the cast together for seven seasons is going to be a Herculean task. They won't succeed. They've already lost Old Nan (dead) and Ilyn Payne (terminal cancer). Minor characters, but Payne's absence is notable. The show has a time clock, and the difference between 7 seasons and 10 might be losing 2 of those 24 or 8.

[Stark Wolf]

I can't foresee any scenario other than the TV show overtakes the books. The aging of the youngest actors and the time set contacts for all of the actors, don't allow the TV series any wiggle room. They will finish the first five books in three more seasons, TWoW will be out and useable, but ADoS won't make it in four more years. GRRM still seems uncertain he can finish with seven novels. Wish they would not have started the TV series untill book six was out.

Will stop watching TV series untill books are complete.

[joluoto]

If the show is still around and catches up, they'll either have to end the show there or go completely "off canon" and start making their own story.

[ImplicationsUnpleasant]

I would not watch it, in fact i would hate if the show catches up with the books. The big problem if that happens would be how to avoid all the spoilers before I get to read the last book.

[Lord Damian]

season 4 is the last 1/3 of ASOS and the first parts of AFFC and possibly ADWD. (one or two pov from both AFFC AND ADWD) it will take two more seasons after that to catch up. GRRM will have book 6 out probably in a year if not year in a half/ ie.. summer 14 or winter 14.

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

I think everyone's forgetting that they've now switched to a 2 season to 1 book schedule. That givers us 5 more years until the show gets to TWOW and 7 years until ADOS. We fine.

[Rooseman]

Keep in mind, the show is filmed well before it actually airs. If Winds of Winter comes out say November of 2014, it will already be to late to include ANY of it in the 2015 season (on pace for Season 5).

The showrunners already know the broad strokes of the whole storyline. There's nothing keeping GRRM from telling them everything they need to know for the TWOW season before the book is officially released.

Besides, is it a given that they'll go back to the 1 book = 1 season structure? ADWD is as long as ASOS, so they could "stretch" book 4 + 5 into three seasons, and have another two for TWOW (which, again, is gonna be as long as ASOS)

Martin keeps giving us credit being the greatest fans in the world, but what does he really do to thank us?

He wrote five books that we all enjoyed, for starters. How does creating something that a lot of people like make you owe them something? He didn't make money by us just giving it to him, he provided a product that we gladly payed for.

Now I understand the frustration, "How dare he wet our appetites and then take so long to deliver?" but thinking about it from his perspective it's absurd to say that he's in some sort of debt to us.

[The Unborn]

Of course I'd watch the show. I watch it and I know what's going to happen because of the books. I don't see the problem. I read the first book after seeing season one, and I enjoyed it a lot, there were some differences, etc.... so yeah, I don't see the problem.