I’m Boycotting ‘Game of Thrones’ Next Year — but Not Because of Spoilers
When the two show-runners of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” confirmed over the weekend that they expect the forthcoming fifth season to catch up to the book series on which it is based, fans of George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” were confronted with a dilemma. If they preferred to experience the author’s version of the story first, should they abstain from watching the TV series entirely? Would that even work? After all, you probably know how “The Sopranos” ended even if you never watched an episode. Between the Internet, print media and old-fashioned water-cooler conversation, it’s awfully difficult to avoid being spoiled today.
Fans have long been aware that show-runners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff know how Martin plans to end his epic fantasy series, even though the publication date of the penultimate volume, “The Winds of Winter,” has yet to be announced. Given the amount of time it takes Martin to produce each of the series’ hefty, complex installments, the release date of the seventh and final book, “A Dream of Spring,” is even more uncertain. Martin has a stormy history with fans who feel he takes too long to write each book and who loudly protest every moment he spends on any other activity, from unrelated writing and editing projects to socializing.
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