‘Outlander’ Author Diana Gabaldon Slams ‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunners and Their Treatment of ‘Poor’ George R.R. Martin

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• Outlander author Diana Gabladon is well aware that the tv series is catching up to her books.
• Gabaldon has some pretty strong feelings about what happened to George R.R. Martin when Game of Thrones caught up to his books.
• In fact, she says that GoT showrunners “took his stuff, and distorted it and wrote their own ending.”

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon is aware that the Starz adaptation of her books is slowly catching up to her. She took seven years to write book nine in the Outlander series, Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone. During that time, the time-traveling drama has aired five seasons based on the first five books. Season 6 (based on book six) is in the can and scheduled to premiere in early 2022, and pre-production has begun on season 7 (based on book seven).

This is a similar situation to what happened with George R. R. Martin and Game of Thrones. And Gabaldon has some thoughts about how HBO treated her “poor” fellow author.

Will the ‘Outlander’ TV series catch up with Diana Gabaldon?

The seven-year gap between book eight — Written In My Own Heart’s Blood — and book nine was the longest gap in the three decades that Gabaldon has been writing the Outlander series.

But that seven-year wait Outlander fans endured between books is nothing compared to what fans of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series have had to deal with. They’ve been waiting on book six — The Winds of Winter — for 10 years.

Game of Thrones caught up to Martin before he could finish the book, which caused the divisive final season. But Gabaldon says that will not happen to her.

Diana Gabaldon says the Starz series will ‘never catch me’

Gabaldon revealed in October that she had started writing the final book in the Outlander series, while the Starz adaptation is currently working on season 7. With each season taking about a year to film, the author should have at least three years to write before they get close to catching up with her. But Gabaldon says there’s no chance that will happen.

“They’ll never catch me,” she told The Guardian. “I will certainly finish the 10th book before they finish the show.”

The ‘Outlander’ author slams ‘Game of Thrones’ showrunners

Gabaldon says she feels “very sorry” for “poor George” because of what took place when the HBO series caught up with him. She says the Game of Thrones showrunners completely ruined what Martin was planning to do with the end of his popular fantasy novel series.

“What happened is that his show caught up with him, and he then met with the showrunners and he told them what he was planning to do in that book, so that they could then write accordingly,” Gabaldon explained.

“Only they didn’t write accordingly, they took his stuff, and distorted it and wrote their own ending, which wasn’t at all what he had in mind but used all the elements that he told them.”

Gabaldon already knows how Jamie and Claire Fraser’s story will end

As Gabaldon continues to pen the final novel in her long-running Outlander series, she says that she already knows the ending that she is working toward. In fact, she’s known the ending to Jamie and Claire Fraser’s story for 20 years.

“It was about 20 years ago that I saw the ending, and I got up in the middle of the night and wrote it down with tears rolling down my face,” she says. “And no: I’m not telling you what it is.”

The ‘Outlander’ author says there is a good reason why the series has taken so long to write

The first Outlander novel was published in 1991, exactly 30 years before the release of book nine. The 69-year-old told Parade Magazine that there’s a specific reason it’s taken her so long to tell Claire and Jamie’s story.

“One reason it takes me so long to write these books is that I need to age along with them,” Gabaldon explained. “I’ll be 70 in January, and I’m a different person than I was at 32 when I started writing Outlander. Your perceptions and experiences change and deepen as you get older. And when you’re telling the story of a long-term marriage, this makes a difference.”

Outlander season 6 premieres Sunday, March 6, 2022, on Starz. Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone is on sale now.