The creator of Game of Thrones has commented on the possibility of not finishing his books.
Who is it about? Even when the hyped “Game of Thrones” series was still ongoing, many viewers were concerned that the author George R.R. Martin might not finish the books and consequently the series before his death.
The now 77-year-old American is currently working on the next book in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga. It is the sixth book and is supposed to be titled “Winds of Winter”. He has now stated what will happen if he cannot finish the book.
End of Game of Thrones
What happens if he dies before it’s finished? In an interview with HollywoodReporter, the author reveals his plans for such a scenario. If he does not finish the new book before he dies and the saga ends incomplete, it would be “a total failure” for him.
“I want to finish it,” he emphasizes in the conversation, almost immediately admitting that “Winds of Winter” still requires a lot of work. If he cannot complete the book because death overtakes him, he says the book “will never be finished”.
But how does it end then? In that case, the book would end where he currently is, and it would remain open how the story concludes. The author states: “It will be like ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’.” The mentioned story is the last work of the English author Charles Dickens and was never completed by him.
Instead, many different authors contributed a possible ending to the story. Whether this aligns with the intentions of the author of Game of Thrones, he does not clarify. However, it might be a feasible idea for the fans.
How much does he still have to write? To this question, the GoT author was evasive. His answer: “If I did everything that comes to my mind, this could become the longest book in the series,” does not clarify how much work remains.
The currently longest book is “Dance with Dragons”, which has 1,056 pages in the original edition. Regarding “Winds of Winter”, he claims to already have 1,100 pages of manuscript, a number he has mentioned since 2022. He describes the current status as follows:
I open the last chapter I worked on and say: “Oh damn, this isn’t very good.” And then I will revise it […] Or I decide: “This Tyrion chapter is not progressing, I would rather write a Jon Snow chapter.” But if I’m not interrupted, what happens – at least in the past – sooner or later is: I get back into the flow.
George R.R. Martin in conversation with hollywoodreporter.com
“I wrote a Tyrion chapter that I really liked,” he added. “Then I looked at it and said: ‘I can’t do this, it would change the entire book. I’ll make it a series of dreams. No! That won’t work either…”
The statements reveal that fans will have to be patient, and it may take some time before George R.R. Martin completes the next work. Because that’s the only way there will be an official ending.
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