George R.R. Martin's Quest to Complete 'The Winds of Winter' Could Be a Lifelong Pursuit – or Deathbed Finale
The author has repeatedly emphasized his determination to finish the long-awaited next installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but the reality is that time is running out on him. Now 77 years old, Martin still has 1,100 pages worth of writing left to do, a daunting task even for someone with his boundless imagination.
Despite growing older, Martin remains razor-sharp and continues to obsess over every detail, often rewriting entire chapters if they don't meet his high standards. He admits that during the pandemic, he retreated to an isolated cabin for focused writing time, which led to new material but also opened the door to second-guessing and self-doubt.
"I wrote a Tyrion chapter I just loved," Martin recalled, "Then I looked at it and said: 'I can't do this, it will change the whole book. I'll make this into a series of dreams. No! That doesn’t work either …'" He's not one to shy away from hard decisions, however, and has made it clear that he won't engage another writer to finish the book for him.
But what happens if Martin himself becomes incapacitated or passes away before completing the story? In an eerie echo of Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood', Martin said his work will simply not be finished. "It would feel like a total failure to me," he admitted, but that's not going to stop him from making it happen.
Martin's commitment is unwavering, and fans can only hope that the author will stay on track long enough to deliver the final installment of 'The Winds of Winter'. In the meantime, Martin has something new to offer: a prequel novella series titled 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms', set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max in January.
The author has repeatedly emphasized his determination to finish the long-awaited next installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but the reality is that time is running out on him. Now 77 years old, Martin still has 1,100 pages worth of writing left to do, a daunting task even for someone with his boundless imagination.
Despite growing older, Martin remains razor-sharp and continues to obsess over every detail, often rewriting entire chapters if they don't meet his high standards. He admits that during the pandemic, he retreated to an isolated cabin for focused writing time, which led to new material but also opened the door to second-guessing and self-doubt.
"I wrote a Tyrion chapter I just loved," Martin recalled, "Then I looked at it and said: 'I can't do this, it will change the whole book. I'll make this into a series of dreams. No! That doesn’t work either …'" He's not one to shy away from hard decisions, however, and has made it clear that he won't engage another writer to finish the book for him.
But what happens if Martin himself becomes incapacitated or passes away before completing the story? In an eerie echo of Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood', Martin said his work will simply not be finished. "It would feel like a total failure to me," he admitted, but that's not going to stop him from making it happen.
Martin's commitment is unwavering, and fans can only hope that the author will stay on track long enough to deliver the final installment of 'The Winds of Winter'. In the meantime, Martin has something new to offer: a prequel novella series titled 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms', set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max in January.
like 77 yrs old and still gonna write 1100 pages worth of content? that's insane! i feel for him tho, 1k pages can be overwhelming even for the most creative ppl 
and if he does pass away, it's like his legacy will just kinda fade away... what a bummer 
but at least he's determined to make it happen and not leave us with some incomplete story 
fingers crossed he stays on track and we get to read 'the winds of winter' soon! 
. I mean, 1,100 pages is a lot, even for someone as talented as him. He's still got some of the best writing skills out there, but it's getting ridiculous how long he's been working on this one book. It's like he's trying to set some kind of record or something 
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. What would even be in those pages then?! I'm all about him sticking to his guns and seeing this through to the end, but at some point... 
77 years old is not young anymore, you know? I think it's awesome that he's still gonna keep going no matter what, even if it means dying with the story in his head 
I'm more excited about this prequel novella series though... A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sounds like a great distraction while we wait for The Winds of Winter 
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. I feel bad for him having to deal with self-doubt and second-guessing during the pandemic 
. He's a perfectionist and it's cool he won't let anyone else finish the book for him 
. Fingers crossed he'll make it happen before he passes away 
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. But for real, 1,100 pages is crazy even for someone as talented as him. He's always been super particular about his writing which I respect. But yeah, if he doesn't make it, it'll feel unfinished and that's a shame because the A Song of Ice and Fire series has been such an epic ride 
. It just goes to show how much passion and care he puts into his work.
). And hey, at least we get 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' to tide us over until 'The Winds of Winter' comes out... fingers crossed that George can make it happen 
- I read someone's blog post about how they stayed in there for a month straight, didn't leave until their story was done... totally admirable, you know? Reminds me of that one scene from 'The Lord of the Rings' where Frodo and Sam are hiking through those mountains, trying to get away from everyone. You just gotta love an author who puts themselves through all that self-doubt and whatnot - it's like they're on a journey with their characters, too 
anyway back to Martin, I feel bad for him if he's gonna be stuck in a cabin writing forever 
at least his fans have 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' to hold us over until 'The Winds of Winter' drops...
. George R.R. Martin's got a deadline looming over him, and he's trying to convince us that he's still in control of the narrative 
. But let's be real, what if he's just delaying the inevitable? What if he can't hack it anymore and needs some help from the dark side 
? I mean, have you seen his writing schedule lately? It's like he's trying to throw us off the scent 
. And don't even get me started on that prequel series - it's just a distraction from the real issue: will 'The Winds of Winter' ever see the light of day? 
, he's been saying it's coming for ages but I think we'll be stuck with a cliffhanger forever 
. On the other hand, I hope he does make it happen and doesn't leave us hanging like 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' 
. I've been re-reading the books over and over since his pandemic retreat 
and it's crazy how much detail he goes into – if anyone can pull it off, Martin can! 
. It's like, he's had this book stuck in his head for years and now he's runnin' outta time 
. 1,100 pages? That's like tryin' to finish a whole Netflix series without watchin' any of 'em 
. I remember when I used to stay up all night playin' Skyrim, wonderin' what was gonna happen next... now it's Martin doin' that 
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. Fingers crossed that Winds of Winter gets done soon, but even if it don't, we'll just have to keep waitin' and wonderin' – after all, as Martin said, it's not gonna be finished if... you know, somethin' happens 
. The idea of him passing away before finishing the book and leaving fans with an incomplete story is pretty unsettling 
. On a positive note, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms prequel series sounds like a great distraction from the main event 
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. It's crazy to think about him having to write 1,100 pages at this stage... I mean, even the most passionate writers get some existential crisis