'The Curse of My Life': George R.R. Martin Has A Lot To Say…

Summary

The Winds of Winter delay is causing frustration for fans and author George R.R. Martin.
Martin admits lack of punctuality and fans' false expectations about his time management.
The delay in finishing The Winds of Winter may be intentional due to negative reactions to Game of Thrones' finale.

George R.R. Martin’s name may be eternally linked with Game of Thrones and all its glory, but nowadays, it’s just as synonymous with a very different legacy: The Winds of Winter. This time though, it seems fans’ complaints about his unfinished Magnus opus are indeed getting under his skin.

For thirteen long years, fans waited and hoped; and for as many years, they were repeatedly heartbroken when George R.R. Martin failed to tender The Winds of Winter, the long-promised sixth entry in his best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. This is the saga that spawned HBO’s Game of Thrones and its prequel, Fire & Blood. O riginally, Martin intended to complete and release The Winds of Winter ahead of the show’s sixth season in 2016. In May 2015, he even assured readers of a year-end publication. It goes without saying that it didn’t go as planned and the latter seasons of the HBO TV show debuted to less favorable reviews from fans . The Winds of Winter remains unfinished and has become a thing of legend among fans of Martin’s realm of Westeros.

The Winds of Winter update from George R. R. Martin.

George R. R. Martin Will Never Finish The Winds of Winter (& Here's Why)

After years of delays, will The Winds of Winter ever see the light of the day?

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By Bisma Fida

Speaking to TIME on YouTube, Martin poured out his frustration at fans he referred to as “fanatics” who overestimate his dedication to other non-The Winds of Winter affairs. But that was not before the author admitted his lack of punctuality. This comes a week after Martin invoked the wrath of some fans for his involvement in the de-extinction of Direwolves at the expense of completing The Winds of Winter and also for teasing something big on his blog and failing to release an update on the book, despite the author specifically warning against such anticipation.

There’s no doubt that Winds of Winter is 13 years late. I’m still working on it. I have periods where I make progress, and then other things divert my attention, and suddenly I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows, I have something else to do. But the two things are not connected. I open a bookstore, and people say, “Why is George R.R. Martin opening a bookstore? He could be writing Winds of Winter.” I don’t actually work in the bookstore. I own it. I hired people to do it. If you go into the bookstore, yes, a lot of my books are there, which I’ve signed, and a lot of books by other people. I’m not going to ring up your register. I have a theatre. I’m not the projectionist. They seem to overestimate how much time I’m putting into these things.

George R.R. Martin’s The Winds of Winter Might Be Intentionally Delayed

Game of Thrones Season Finale Might Have Something To Do With It

Martin’s comments are proof that he recognizes the burden that The Winds of Winter has become on his career. But it doesn’t detract from the glaring truth that 13 years is a really, really long time to finish a novel — a page daily and he could have been done four years ago. Include the false promises stashed mid-year, and it starts to feel like there’s more to The Winds of Winter’s delay than lateness. Does he even want to finish it? Or has he finished it already and wants it released posthumously, a la Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time?

The corollary “why?” To both questions finds its answer in the disastrous finale that was Game of Thrones Season 8. Who knows, fans’ reactions might have left such a sour taste in dear Martin’s buds that he dreads the “what could have been” in The Winds of Winter more than the “what was” in the Game of Thrones finale.

Some in The Winds of Winter waiting community are beginning to, or have already moved on. At 76 years old, Martin’s timeline to finish The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring — the latter likely not even a page old — is narrowing. But if Martin wishes not to see his legacy reduced to some lazy author who spent a lifetime trying and failing to finish a book, he may need to seriously reconsider his strategy with The Winds of Winter. Otherwise, it risks becoming the highest-profile case of literary vaporware in modern history, or worse — or worse, GTA 5 and 6 might hit the shelves before it.