Small Council: So The Winds of Winter isn’t coming out before Season 6. What now? 

About a week ago, George R.R. Martin

would not be published in time for the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 6. The reactions were swift and varied. Now that some time has passed, what do we think? Will this effect how or whether we watch the show? Is there blame to be doled out, and if so, where? Do the Unsullied among us even care? The Small Council is in session.

DAN: I think the announcement was unfortunate but unsurprising. There was a five-year gap between 

will come out soon but not immediately. I’m content to wait a while longer.

As for whether this means that book-readers will be spoiled by watching the show…well, yes, that’s inevitable, at least to some extent. Martin admitted as much on his

, but also took care to note that the show has diverged so widely from the books that “the ‘spoilers’ you may encounter in season six may not be spoilers at all.” Check out his list of characters who may play big parts in 

but who have been cut from the show. It’s extensive.

came out tomorrow, I’m not sure it would help people predict what’s coming in Season 6. Yes, cast members like Natalie Dormer have said that, even if the paths they take are different, the books and the show will end up in the same place. “A to B, they go off in slightly different tangents, but B is still B,” she said. But if Season 5 taught us anything, it’s that those tangents are anything but slight. In fiction, the journey often matters more than the destination, and it’s starting to look like the book and show versions of the characters will go on different journeys.

will be very different beasts by the time they’re complete, so I’m not worried that the one will spoil the other. In fact, I wouldn’t be opposed to the showrunners just throwing out Martin’s template and ending the series on their own terms. I’d prefer that to a clumsy attempt to jam Martin’s ideas into a framework that’s increasingly unable to support them. And then, years down the road, after Martin is done with the series, another network can make 

, and we can see a version that hews closer to Martin’s vision.

KATIE: As an Unsullied viewer, I’m not at all fussed about Martin’s publication dates. I understand why readers would be upset, but I’ve never sympathized with those who are vicious about it. Yes, it’s disappointing to wait on something that you’re looking forward to, but personally I never snapped when we were waiting on J.K. Rowling, so I don’t expect I would react any differently if I read the 

Writing is no small feat, especially when you’re writing something as vast and complex as

. Heck, no matter what you’re writing, it takes a toll, and I’m sure Martin wants 

done more than anyone else does.

It’s been suggested for awhile now that the show would surpass the books, but oftentimes you have to view one story as two separate entities when they’re delivered in different media. That mentality is problematic here, since the show has the potential to spoil the story for those who read it, but as Martin has said, the spoilers may not be all that spoiler-y. Although it doesn’t matter to me personally, I do hope for the sake of his readers that that’s true.

RICHARD: I’ve gotta tell ya, since every book series and show is finite, I’m pretty happy with the idea of having two different versions of Martin’s masterpiece coming down the pipe. It’s like those old kid’s books where the ending differed depending on which version of the storyline you picked (are those still around?). I trust Benioff and Weiss as caretakers of Martin’s vision at this point. It’s a grand experiment. Nothing could be worse than forcing Martin to finish any of his books before he can craft them in their grand sprawl the way he wants to.

as it plows into uncharted territory, and I say hooray for Martin as he fights the good fight. And I believe that no one wants

competed more than Martin does. It’s all ended up in what’s amounting to be a fascinating double-serving of a great fictional world, and rather than wring my hands, I am happy to embrace it.

RAZOR: I’ve already given my thoughts on the delay of

, but I’ll reiterate what I said: I have foolishly and anxiously anticipated an announcement from George R.R. Martin concerning a release date for the long-awaited sixth book in his

, for a long time. For far too long, I have enjoyed knowing what was going to happen on each season of

(with the exception of some scenes in Season 5), and for the most part, the show had yet to spoil the books. In my naivete, I had kept the faith that Martin would gift us with a new book before Season 6 debuted, so that I could continue to enjoy not actually being spoiled by the show. I was wrong.

Accurate depiction of  my feelings after that announcement:

CAMERON: The show and the books have always been different-but-related entities, so the question of how much this affects you personally depends a lot on your relationship to both. I’ve long since accepted the fact that, even if the show hits the same basic plot points as the books, it will never do so in the exact same way as the books, so I’m going to enjoy Season 6 mostly in peace. As a creative person myself, I’m also deeply sympathetic to Martin’s writing plights. It can be really tough sometimes to convey exactly what’s inside your head, and when what’s inside your head is a world of your own making, with characters of your own devising and interwoven plots cobbled together into some sort of coherent structure…I’m grateful that we have talented writers like Martin in our time, and I’m content with feeling a sort of “anxious patience” as we continue to wait for the sixth book.

Basically, I’m not surprised, and I’m super-chill about it. [insert sunglasses emoji]

Apart from news about a premiere date for Game of Thrones Season 6, we didn’t learn much...

Last night, HBO took the floor at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, but...

Have you already read all the books and/or don\'t care about spoilers? You can reveal all the spoilers in the comments with the click of a link below.

Very unsurprising that the deadline has been missed. Couldn’t care less, I stopped worrying about the books some time ago.

I did care a little bit, but after this announcement, I am done. I have been a Berserk Manga fan for more than 10 years so this ASOIAF delay is nothing compared to Kentaro Muira’s work which he started in 1990 and still isn’t but 65% completed at best with a six month hiatus to start 2016. Best thing is to just move on. TBH, it wouldn’t shock me if Martin never finishes the last book. I find it curious that Martin is against fan-fiction of his work. Well with these delays, that’s the only ASOIAF fans can see anytime soon.

Hurrying up an artist… one of those things those who didn´t understand a thing do.

I would rather read between the lines of the old books. Find some clues about the future of events to come, like how long will it take Daenerys to reach Westoros or about who will have the power to fight her if she is mounted on Three matured dragons, seeing that Drogon could be injured by a few not so trained Sons of the hurpy. Will she be the most powerful in 350 AC?

Why would I stop watching the best show on television? I really want to read TWOW but I’m not going to not watch. I’m honestly just ready for this topic to go away already.

While I think most people will still be very interested in TWOW when it finally comes out, probably before season 7, Martin can now take eternity to complete TDOS, as most TV fans may not even

The journey may be more important than the destination for some people, for most average fans, all they care are what happened, not how it happened.

Why do they bother reading the books then? Why do they bother watching the show? If all they care about is what happens, why not just ask their friend or read a summary or a post-episode article or discussion? Why do so many people whine about being spoiled if they only care about what happens?

How something happens it’s as much a part of a TV show as it is a part of a book.

My question is why would you write articles for this site but not even have read the books? I’m a super fan so that kind of baffles me. I watched the show 1st of course but I immediately read the books when I had to wait for freakin season 5. READ THE BOOKS if you haven’t yet!

I can see why the site would want to employ different viewpoints. What I don’t understand though is when someone claims to be a HBO fan but has never read the books. I really don’t get that.

There needs to be a sixth option, prior to option number two, for me to vote.

(1.5) I’ll still watch, but I’m upset the show is going to spoil me for the books.

Thus leaving out the stuff about writing faster. Not that I don’t wish he wrote faster, it’s just the adversarial phrasing.

You shouldn’t be upset. The show won’t spoil anything.

How can the show not spoil anything? I know the book and the show are going to have differences, but to suggest that the show won’t spoil ANYTHING in the book seems a bit naive or flippant.

The books aren’t happening anytime soon. I agree, let’s drop this subject. We have the show and that’s all we can enjoy at this point. Enjoy it!

The only thing I’m worried about is how all these articles (which do nothing but help people vent) manage to whip people up every time and again to rally gainst GRRM’s writing speed. Sooner or later one of these write-ups might get to a reader’s head entirely and GRRM ends up getting Lennon’ed or something.

ok now I’ve seen enough articles on this site about TWOW being delayed. Just move on ffs.

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