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George RR Martin's latest blog post has broken me.

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I've been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire since I picked up the series in 2000. Although incomplete, it's one of my favourite fantasy series and I'd class Storm of Swords as one of the best fantasy novels to ever grace my eyes. For this reason, I've always defended George RR Martin's writing pace. I'd always say "you can't rush art". How wrong I was.

Judging by Mr Martin's latest blog we're all going be waiting a lot, lot longer. Here is part of his blog post, but the full post is linked below.

I know, I know, for many of you out there, only one of those projects matters.

I am sorry for you. They ALL matter to me.

Yes, of course I am still working on THE WINDS OF WINTER. I have stated that a hundred times in a hundred venues, having to restate it endlessly is just wearisome. I made a lot of progress on WINDS in 2020, and less in 2021… but “less” is not “none.”

The world of Westeros, the world of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE, is my number one priority, and will remain so until the story is told. But Westeros has become bigger than THE WINDS OF WINTER, or even A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. In addition to WINDS, I also need to deliver the second volume of Archmaester Gyldayn’s history, FIRE & BLOOD. (Thinking of calling that one BLOOD & FIRE, rather than just F&B, Vol 2). Got a couple hundred pages of that one written, but there’s still a long way to go. I need to write more of the Dunk & Egg novellas, tell the rest of their stories, especially since there’s a television series about them in development. There’s a lavish coffee table book coming later this year, an illustrated, condensed version of FIRE & BLOOD done with Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson (my partners on THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE), and my Fevre River art director, Raya Golden. And another book after that, a Who’s Who in Westeros. And that’s just the books.


The man then goes onto list all these Game of Thrones spin off shows he's working with HBO, plus other shows that aren't HBO related.

I know. George is his own boss and he can work on what he wants when he wants. True, but he needs to stop dangling the fucking carrot in front of our faces.

The writing history for Winds is bizarre. In 2016 he put out a blog post which he apologised to his fans for missing a deadline. He explained that he thought he could meet a deadline for October 2015 to hand in Winds, which would get it published before the new season of GoT. He failed to meet this deadline, but if he thought he could hit it then surely it was close to completion?

Anyway, he then went on to say that Winds was his number 1 project. He gave fans hope by declaring he would not be writing anything, no teleplays, screenplays, short stories, introductions or forewords before delivering The Winds of Winter....which of course was bullshit.

2017 he said he hoped it'd be out that year, then later in the year he said its actually still "months" away.

2019 he said that fans could lock him up on a volcanic island if he didn't have the book ready by the time WorldCon 2020.

And it just goes on. Every year George dangles that carrot and injects me with hope and I'm just sick of believing his BS.

He just needs to be honest and say he's fallen out of love with ASOIAF and he'd rather make easy money writing 1000 different HBO shows. Then I can be honest and say I'm truly done with the series, which is something I thought I'd never say.

 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
i would read it if it comes out but im not going to hold my breath or expect it to ever come out.
 

Dr Bass

Member
Based on his age and his weight, I figure he doesn't live long enough to finish any of it.

I could be wrong of course.
 
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Bragr

Banned
He loves cinema and loves to work alongside it. I think he likes it more than writing Winds of Winter. He wants his world and legacy to be on the screen.

He's 73 years old, and I think the TV show finishing his story before he could do it with the books absolutely destroyed his drive.

I fell in love with the first 3 books, but after the Stark rebellion was done, it never got back to the same highs. I always felt like he should have written the Stark story as the main story and ended the series when it was done. At this point, there are too many characters, too many plot holes, too much to write and consider.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I don't see how his old statements about Winds could possibly be true by anyone's standards--although he's probably more delusional than dishonest.

Dishonest. In 2016 he said he wouldn't be picking up any other writing jobs (except editing Wild Cards) untill Winds had been completed. That was clearly bullshit.
 

NecrosaroIII

Ultimate DQ Fan
Does anyone really care? The show ended, so basically that's all people really need. The book ending will just be responsive to what the TV show did first.
 

Catphish

Member
We already got the ending we deserve.
not true GIF by Rate My Professors
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Just accept that it will break him to finish this. He is writing what he wants.

Berserk is never finishing either. Let him enjoy what time he has left.
 

ZehDon

Member
What's the motivation for him to finish at this point? His story was ruined, he's already made squillions, and he's got more projects that he and others are simply more interested in.

It'll take a while for it to sink in, but in general, ASOIF is dead. Martin's no fool - he knows he'll never deliver what he would have to in order to resurrect his epic to its previous stature. So, why kill yourself trying? HBO want to recapture the magic of their biggest hit, and it makes sense they'll blow a few years and a few hundred million trying and failing. But anything GOT related is anathema. Martin's better off doing other things.
 
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Nezzeroth

Member
I’ve moved on. He’s never going to finish that story. He couldn’t even finish the book during a pandemic + quarantine, he just doesn’t care at this point but he doesn’t want to say it because otherwise people wouldn’t be interested in anything he makes knowing it might never be finished either.
 
Oh man, he used to at least pretend that Winds of Winter was some kind of priority. This blog post makes it reeeeeeally clear that it's not even in his top 20 projects.

It is sad, though. He clearly wants to believe that everyone really truly cares about his dull fantasy faux-history books, the also-ran TV shows, etc. That they still matter even if the show's ending was putrid and he never actually finishes the story that's the whole reason anyone was invested in the first place. But we don't, and they don't.
 
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CosmicComet

Member
Elden Ring is the only work of his that matters.

He can retire knowing that was his magnum opus and eclipses anything he did before.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Meanwhile Brandon Sanderson just broke Kickstarter and raised 25mln for 4 secret books he wrote in 2021 because “Hey, Covid hit and I had some free time”.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
It's been over a decade. I think it's clear he isn't ever going to finish it and has no intention of doing so. I just wish he'd come clean about it, admit it openly to himself and the world. Just put it to bed officially already rather than riding the fame and speculation train to the grave.

The only work of his I am even remotely interested in any longer is wrapping up Dunk and Egg. They're short novellas he can crank out in a reasonable time, they're genuinely fun stories and do their part in fleshing out the world - even if only in little ways that only rabid readers will even notice.

GoT ended miserably, it was so bad it retroactively killed much of the interest I had in ASoIaF. Fire & Blood was boring. I knew what it was going in, essentially a history book for a fantasy world, but even from that perspective it was rote and uninteresting. I have no hope of the new HBO show being good. If they couldn't get Daenerys right there is no way they're going to nail the more intense and romantic Targaryen royalty. I'm expecting them to all be caricatures. Bleh. Why do I still let this man get me worked up?
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
It's over. He'll never finish it. He's made his money and there's no reason for him to do so.

I agree. He'll never finish the series. He's been working on Winds for 11 years with no end in sight. At this rate, he'll be working on Dream until he's in his late 80s.

He should do the decent thing and hand the series to somebody else, or arrange for the ASOIAF book series to be pulled from sale.
 

Fools idol

Banned
I have a tinfoil hat theory there is another reason he hasn't finished it;

The show ending is actually the real ending he had in mind, and the reception to it was... lets say, not great.

He is having to re-think and rewrite the pathways for a huge cast of characters towards a different ending than the show has, because he realised fans didn't like it. It's taking a lot of time.
 

Yoboman

Member
I have a tinfoil hat theory there is another reason he hasn't finished it;

The show ending is actually the real ending he had in mind, and the reception to it was... lets say, not great.

He is having to re-think and rewrite the pathways for a huge cast of characters towards a different ending than the show has, because he realised fans didn't like it. It's taking a lot of time.
Its not that fans didn't like it, it was that it was poorly earned and written. The books can do the same thing and easily do it better

But yeah I agree he has no motivation seeing as the crux of the story is already done on the show eg Jon's heritage
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I have a tinfoil hat theory there is another reason he hasn't finished it;

The show ending is actually the real ending he had in mind, and the reception to it was... lets say, not great.

He is having to re-think and rewrite the pathways for a huge cast of characters towards a different ending than the show has, because he realised fans didn't like it. It's taking a lot of time.

Could be. That could explain why the book was almost finished and months away in 2016 to still being nowhere in sight now.

Also this video sums up another major issue. George now is placing more importance on making a cinematic shared universe with HBO than working on his actual magnum opus, which is really fucking sad. He's gone completely back on his word of focusing on Winds, to now putting Winds at the back of the pile.

 
I'm still fond of the books and would like more, but in hindsight, he started to lose control of the process a long time ago. The plot and characters have taken a life of their own. I think he could have sorted it all out if he had nothing else to do and he was beholden to his publisher, but the TV money has changed things drastically.

Some more Dunk And Egg would be nice and I still hope we get the next book eventually, but finishing the whole thing isn't happening.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I'm still fond of the books and would like more, but in hindsight, he started to lose control of the process a long time ago. The plot and characters have taken a life of their own. I think he could have sorted it all out if he had nothing else to do and he was beholden to his publisher, but the TV money has changed things drastically.

Some more Dunk And Egg would be nice and I still hope we get the next book eventually, but finishing the whole thing isn't happening.

I think finishing the main series should be his priority above all else. It's a real slap in the face to the fans who've been fans before the show was even thought of. How can you carry on selling the books knowing the story will never be finished?

He should be obliged to finish the series. People have spent a lot of money and time reading ASOIAF. It should be his life's work. His greatest achievement. Instead, he's told fans of the books to do one while he forges a shared universe for HBO.
 
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