George R.R. Martin Admits To (Lack Of) 'Winds Of Winter' Back-Up Plan
Image Source: The Independent
Fifteen long years have passed since A Dance with Dragons debuted in bookstores. Ever since this book and its predecessors in the A Song of Ice and Fire series have been published and served as source material for HBO’s Game of Thrones television series, fans of the books have been eagerly waiting for Winds of Winter, the sixth book of the planned seven in the epic series. Many book readers have expressed their displeasure in their long wait, especially as author George R. R. Martin has worked on many other film projects; namely, House of the Dragon, which Martin has been working on with HBO, and just this weekend, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms debuted on HBO. Martin has also been involved with other projects: Dark Winds on AMC, which takes place on a Navajo reservation, and he has also collaborated on Elden Ring, a fantasy game. Martin has also collaborated on the Wild Cards book anthology, invests in the city of Santa Fe’s tourism industry, and helps smaller filmmakers at film festivals. All of these extra projects has led to some fans to prepare for the worst: What if the epic A Song of Ice and Fire is never finished?
Many devotees of the book series have been wondering for years about this scenario. There has been plenty of speculation about Martin’s being overweight (but when he recently showed that he slimmed down, people speculated that this must be due to a health issue) and his age: Martin tells The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd,
“I never thought I’d live to be 77. I’m old, so I have some old-people stuff. My lower back hurts sometimes. I don’t like to stand around. But I feel OK.”
Despite this reassurance, some fans are still concerned, and one of them voiced his worry at WorldCon. During the audience question time, the person at the mic asked Martin if he would let another writer take over the writing of The Winds of Winter because, “you’re not going to be around for much longer.”
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Image Source: Hiptoro
George was rather taken aback by this. He had already been feeling emotional over the loss of quite a few of his writing colleagues and fellow film festival collaborator, Robert Redford. In fact, Redford had come out of his own acting retirement to do a cameo on Dark Winds with Martin. In their scene together, Redford tells Martin, “George, the whole world is waiting, make a move”. That line, of course, was an allusion to the writing of The Winds of Winter - and it was also Redford’s last screen role before his death.
Despite the morbid predictions and many distractions Martin has getting in the way of his book writing, including his own perfectionism and endless editing of the over 1,100 pages he already has written in the TheWinds of Winter, Martin has no contingency plan “just in case” something happens to him. He tells Hibberd, “If that happens, my work won’t be finished,” he says. “It’ll be like The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. (This is a reference to Charles Dickens’s last, unfinished work.) Martin also went on to say,
“I have to write more Dunk and Egg. There’s supposed to be another Fire and Blood book, too. I do think if I can just get some of these other things off my back, I could finish The Winds of Winter pretty soon. It’s been made clear to me that Winds is the priority, but … I don’t know. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for that.”
In the meantime, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on HBO and HBO Max.
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