- Culture
- 05 Jan 16
He's also criticised purveyors of "garbage internet journalism"
Game Of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin has broken the news to fans that his next book, The Winds Of Winter, is “nowhere near completion”.
Writing on his always compelling [link]grrm.livejournal.com [/link] blog, the author says: “For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, ‘I have completed and delivered The Winds Of Winter on or before the last day of 2015’, but the book’s not done. Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week. Yes, there's a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters. (Those 'no pages done' reports were insane, the usual garbage internet journalism that I have learned to despise). But there's also a lot still left to write. I am months away still... and that's if the writing goes well.”
October 2015 saw the publication of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, a prequel to the Game Of Thrones series. However, this hasn’t quenched the thirst of the series' huge following to continue on their Westeros journey. Despite Martin's recurring illnesses and his race against the clock, he is still feeling the relentless pressure from fans, producers and publishers to complete The Winds Of Winter, the sixth book in the A Song Of Ice And Fire series.
“I suppose I could just say, ‘Sorry, boys and girls, still writing,’ and leave it at that,” Martin continues. "But with Season 6 of Game Of Thrones approaching, and so many requests for information boiling up, I am going to break my own rules and say a little more, since it would appear that hundreds of my readers, maybe thousands or tens of thousands, are very concerned about this question of 'spoilers" and the show catching up, revealing things not yet revealed in the books, etc.”
Treating the books as their bible, Game Of Thrones screenwriters David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have stayed true to Martin's works and the fifth season finished up in June 2015 exactly where A Dance With Dragons did.
Published in 2011, A Dance With Dragons took six years to complete, and has helped Game Of Thrones officially become the most-watched premium TV show in the world.
Although The Winds Of Winter is far from completed, multiple sources suggest that HBO will plough on with the sixth season and reveal what’s yet to come in the book. Dublin actor Liam Cunningham, who plays Davos Seaworth, revealed recently that he’s already been informed of some of the spoilers by Martin himself.
The complexity of the multiple plots, and the character development, which are so integral to the success of these works means that there are no shortcuts available to the author.
"It will be done when it's done,” Martin concludes, “and it will be as good as I can possibly make it".
For those suffering Game Of Thrones withdrawal symptoms, here’s a feast of archive interviews with Liam Cunningham and his fellow Irish co-stars Conleth Hill and Aidan Gillen.
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