George R.R. Martin teases twist for dead 'Game of Thrones' character

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- George R.R. Martin will include a twist in A Song of Ice and Fire that will not appear in HBO series Game of Thrones.

The 67-year-old author revealed The Winds of Winter, the sixth novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, will include a character who died on Game of Thrones but not in the books.

"I have decided to do it. Will you know it? I don't know," Martin said in an interview with IGN while discussing A Song of Ice and Fire and the sci-fi and fantasy genres.

"It's fairly obvious because it is something that involves a couple of characters, one of which is dead on the show, and not dead in the books," he revealed. "So the show can't do it, unfortunately, because they have killed someone I have not killed."

Fans immediately speculated Martin was talking about Jon Snow, who was left for dead on the Game of Thrones Season 5 finale, but the author said there "are like 15 characters who are dead on the show [but] who are alive in the books."

Game of Thrones will return for a sixth season April 24, while Martin has yet to release The Winds of Winter. The author in a January blog post said the show, which will outpace the books, will not necessarily spoil the novels.

"Maybe. Yes and no," he wrote. "Given where we are, inevitably, there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of Game of Thrones that have not yet happened in the books ... How you want to handle that... hey, that's up to you."

Martin released A Dance with Dragons, the fifth A Song of Ice and Fire book, in 2011, and said last month he is "months away" from finishing The Winds of Winter.