While Game of Thrones has ended as a TV series, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books series still has two books yet to be completed. In order to fit the huge and complex world Martin built into a digestible television format, many plot points and characters were changed or omitted, including a whole cast of interesting characters you’ve never even met if you’ve only seen the HBO series.

Without further ado, here are 10 characters who are reasons you should give the books a shot:

1—Lady Stoneheart

Lady Catelyn Stark was taken from us during the Red Wedding, but in the books, she comes back as a nonverbal undead badass whom we assume is seeking vengeance for the Red Wedding. She is discovered by the Brotherhood without Banners, who decide to follow her and basically do her bidding, and there are some grim results involving one of our beloved characters who was still alive in the season eight finale of the show.

George R. R. Martin has been vocal about his disappointment in Lady Stoneheart’s exclusion from the show, so we can only assume she plays an instrumental role in our journey to the end of the story.

2—Margaery Tyrell

And by extension, King Tommen.

Yep; in the books, Margaery is still imprisoned by the Sparrows, and Cersei has just recently completed her infamous naked walk of shame from the Sept of Baelor to the Red Keep, so we have no idea what Cercei will plan and whether or not King’s Landing will erupt in wildfire, leading King Tommen to dive to his death from his bedroom window.

3—Five More “Sand Snakes”

Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire have been critical of the existential beatdown sustained by the Dorne story line in Game of Thrones. For one, we only got to meet three of the eight “Sand Snakes,” the surname given to the eight bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, who we saw almost defeat the Mountain in Tyrion’s trial by combat for the alleged murder of King Joffrey. The moniker “Sand” is of course in reference to the deserts of Dorne. When we leave the Sand Snakes in the books, they are all still alive.

4—Myrcella Baratheon

Near the end of season five, we see the sad and untimely end of Myrcella Baratheon, Cercei and Jaime’s secret bastard daughter, who is the recipient of a kiss of death by Ellaria Sand for revenge for the death of Oberyn, her lover and father of the Sand Snakes. However, in the books, Ellaria doesn’t want Myrcella dead; in fact, two of the Sand Snakes have a plan to crown Myrcella Queen of Dorne. This plan is [at least temporarily] thwarted by another character we’ve never met in the show, Areo Hotah. The last we see of Myrcella in the books, she is a little beat up but still very much alive and in Dorne with some very powerful allies.

5—Ellaria Sand

In the books, Ellaria Sand doesn’t kill Myrcella and in fact has little interaction with her at all. She also has no beef with Prince Trystane, so he is also still alive and still betrothed to Myrcella. That means Cersei has no reason to want Ellaria or any of her daughters dead. Therefore, all of the Sand Snakes as well as Ellaria are still alive in the books. I’m really looking forward to reading about the real fate of Dorne and the roles the Sand Snakes, as well as Myrcella, Trystane, and Ellaria, will play since their entire story line was abandoned in the show.

6—Ser Barristan Selmy

Ser Barristan Selmy, or Ser Barristan the Bold, dies at the hands of the Sons of the Harpy back in season five in Mereen, but he is still alive and well and fighting for Daenerys’s cause in the books. He’s pretty old though.

7—Shireen Baratheon

In season five, we see Shireen’s shocking ending as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light at the hands of her father, Stannis Baratheon, and the Red Woman, Melisandre. This never happened—or hasn’t happened, anyway—in the books, which means Stannis’s wife, Selyse, is also still alive, since she never hanged herself in grief over her role in her only living child’s sacrifice. This brings me to:

8—Stannis Baratheon

The show gave us a satisfying end to Stannis by Brienne of Tarth shortly after Shireen’s horrifying death. In the books, Ramsay Bolton spreads a rumor that he killed Stannis, but we never actually read about Stannis’s death, so we don’t know whether or not Ramsay is telling the truth. However, Martin confirmed that Stannis is alive “beyond a doubt” in response to a fan’s question in his LiveJournal.

 9—Jeyne Poole

Jeyne Poole is Sansa’s friend who does needlework with Sansa under Septa Mordane. She is not seen again after season one of the show, after her family is killed by Lannister men-at-arms at the Red Keep. We have no idea what happened to her in the show.

In the books, Jeyne is Sansa’s best friend and plays a prominent role involving Ramsay Bolton that could potentially change the entire course of one major character’s arc.

10—Jeyne Westerling (Talisa)

In the show, Robb Stark married Talisa, a noblewoman from Volantis whom he meets and falls in love with while she is tending fallen soldiers on the battlefield. She is gruesomely killed at the Red Wedding while visibly pregnant.

In the books, Robb marries Jeyne Westerling, the commoner daughter of one of the Starks’ vassals, and she never attended the Red Wedding. The last we hear of her, she is still very much alive and presumably pregnant and in mourning for Robb.

Final Note

A Song of Ice and Fire contains numerous additional and equally interesting characters who never made it to the television series. The vast world Martin created is filled with many diverse cultures and characters, each with their own complex histories, religions, and traditions, and his entire book world simply couldn’t fit in an eight-season television series. If you are one of the many fans who is unhappy with the way Game of Thrones ended and have not read the books, now would be a great time to re-immerse yourself in your favorite universe and get to know the characters you’ve never met, along with your favorites with potentially different character arcs.