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George RR Martin says Game of Thrones fan reactions won't affect A Song of Ice and Fire novels

Author says he doesn't read fan sites

Clémence Michallon
New York
Monday 15 July 2019 21:08 BST
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George RR Martin attends the LA Special Screening of 'Tolkien' on 8 May, 2019 in Westwood, California.
George RR Martin attends the LA Special Screening of 'Tolkien' on 8 May, 2019 in Westwood, California. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

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George RR Martin has vowed not to let the reactions of Game of Thrones fans interfere with his writing process as he pens the final two novels in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The author told Entertainment Weekly that the internet and fan culture have affected the way his writing is perceived, describing how much harder it can be to build up to a plot twist when fans are constantly exchanging information online.

He used Jon Snow’s parentage as an example, saying that “there were early hints about [it] in the books, but only one reader in 100 put it together.

“And before the internet that was fine — for 99 readers out of 100 when Jon Snow’s parentage gets revealed it would be, ‘Oh, that’s a great twist!’ But in the age of the internet, even if only one person in 100 figures it out then that one person posts it online and the other 99 people read it and go, ‘Oh, that makes sense,’” he added.

“Suddenly the twist you’re building towards is out there. And there is a temptation to then change it — ‘Oh my god, it’s screwed up, I have to come up with something different.’ But that’s wrong. Because you’ve been planning for a certain ending and if you suddenly change direction just because somebody figured it out, or because they don’t like it, then it screws up the whole structure.”

Martin said he doesn’t read fan sites, adding: “I want to write the book I’ve always intended to write all along. And when it comes out they can like it or they can not like it.”

The most recent book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance With Dragons, came out in 2011.

A sixth book, The Winds of Winter, and a seventh tome titled A Dream of Spring, are forthcoming.

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