Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin reveals main regret

George R.R. Martin at the 68th Emmy Awards. Photo / Getty

George R.R. Martin may have written the Game of Thrones books but he has no idea how the TV series will end.

"I haven't read the (final-season) scripts and haven't been able to visit the set because I've been working on (new book The Winds of Winter)," Martin told EW. "I know some of the things. But there's a lot of minor-character (arcs) they'll be coming up with on their own. And, of course, they passed me several years ago. There may be important discrepancies."

Martin says the biggest regret that he has is that he took so long to write his fantasy saga, A Song of Fire and Ice, that the TV series carried on his stories without him.

"It's been an incredible ride," he said. "And almost all of it has been great. Obviously, I wished I finished these books sooner so the show hadn't gotten ahead of me. I never anticipated that."

Martin has worked for eight years to finish his sixth book, The Winds of Winter, and still has no publication date.

His last book, 2011's A Dance with Dragons, ended with the death of Jon Snow.

Martin has explained to showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss how he plans to ends the story but the scriptwriters have often changed parts of the books, including Ramsay Bolton marrying Sansa Stark whereas in the books he marries a minor character.

"(The concern) used to be that the books would spoil the show for people — and luckily it did not for the most part," Benioff says.

"Now that the show is ahead of the books, it seems the show could ruin the books for people. So one thing we've talked to George about is that we're not going to tell people what the differences are, so when those books come out people can experience them fresh."

Martin says while he has "mixed feelings" about the end of the TV show he will not be leaving Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen and the Stark family behind.

"It's the end for a lot of people," Martin said. "It's not the end for me. I'm still deeply in it. I better live a long time because I have a lot of work left to do."