George R.R. Martin Will Both End ‘The Winds of Winter’ or Die Attempting

The George R.R. Martin profile in yesterday’s Hollywood Reporter is stuffed with enjoyable tidbits concerning the writer, together with his pleasure over A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, his ideas on whether or not or not that Jon Snow Game of Thrones sequel series will ever occur—and a tiny drop of tea about his feud with Home of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal. However anytime Martin sits down for questions, the inevitable topic will at all times come up: what’s the most recent on The Winds of Winter?

First issues first. Martin remains to be smarting over that fan who requested him eventually 12 months’s WorldCon if he’d enable one other writer to complete the long-awaited subsequent A Tune of Ice and Fireplace guide, given Martin’s advancing age (he’s 77). It was insulting again in August, and it nonetheless is now: “I actually didn’t want that shit. No person wants that shit.”

Nonetheless, it’s clear that Martin shares his followers’ consciousness of the ruthless passage of time. He advised THR he has 1,100 pages—sure, that’s the identical quantity he cited back in 2022 and 2023, although it sounds just like the content material of these pages has shifted considerably.

“I’ll open the final chapter I used to be engaged on and I’ll say, ‘Oh fuck, this isn’t superb.’ And I’ll go in and I’ll rewrite it. Or I’ll determine, ‘This Tyrion chapter just isn’t coming alongside, let me write a Jon Snow chapter.’ If I’m not interrupted although, what occurs—at the least prior to now—is in the end, I do get into it,” he advised THR.

Even with out interruptions, it’s gradual going. Through the pandemic, Martin retreated to an isolated cabin for some targeted writing time; although he advised THR that resulted in numerous new materials, it additionally opened the door to second-guessing. “I wrote a Tyrion chapter I simply beloved. Then I checked out it and stated: ‘I can’t do that, it’ll change the entire guide. I’ll make this right into a collection of goals. No! That doesn’t work both …’”

However he’s nonetheless very decided. Giving up on The Winds of Winter just isn’t an choice. “It might really feel like a complete failure to me. I need to complete,” he stated.

Nonetheless, that WorldCon fan’s query additionally re-entered the interview right here. Martin isn’t going to have interaction one other author to complete the guide. That won’t occur.

However what if Martin does die—or change into incapacitated in a roundabout way—earlier than he completes the story? Properly, then, “My work gained’t be completed,” he stated, and provided Charles Dickens’ unfinished final novel as some extent of comparability: “It’ll be like The Thriller of Edwin Drood.”

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that! And when you wait (and wait) for the subsequent Winds of Winter replace, take a look at A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms—premiering January 18 on HBO and HBO Max.

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