I’m sure author George R.R. Martin gets a lot of “how’s the book coming,” “when’s the book coming,” “what’s going on with Arya / Tyrion / whoever” questions all the time. I mean, we know he does. This past week, an article dropped in the Hollywood Reporter and it came up again. What’s the skinny on completing The Winds of Winter? (the sixth book of the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire) And what if Martin shuffles off this mortal coil? From the piece …
“If that happens, my work won’t be finished. It’ll be like The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”
As the zeitgeist reminds me, last year Martin had a run in with an angry “fan” who questioned if he would be handing off writing duties to another author adding that Martin was “probably going to die soon.” I’d hate for people to publicly speculate how much life I have left too. That’s morbid AF. Also, a series dealing with myth and legend versus reality becoming its own myth and legend versus reality seems fitting. Will GRRM become Azor Ahai?
The entitlement of these “fans”, I think, is the real problem.
You’re not entitled to ANYTHING an author does. When you buy a book, you buy THAT book. That’s the deal. You are never guaranteed another. He has stated that he desires to finish the story, and he is working on finishing the series, but he may never finish it. That’s life. And the vitriol and hate directed at him certainly isn’t going to help him to finish it. It’s just abusing someone who has brought you joy. There’s no actual contract. You’re not the boss. The author doesn’t work for you. They create art. You can buy it or not. It’s your choice. And how and when they create it is up to them, and them alone. You can’t always get what you want. And no author should ever come in and try to finish a story by someone else unless the original author desires the collaboration. In this case, he does not.
It’s outrageous for you to demand to dictate how people are allowed to create art. That really defeats the purpose of art. And making someone’s life miserable because you love their art and demand more is perverse. It’s a toxic thing to do. And besides, you know what you can always do for free, if ever a story is left unfinished forever? You can use your own imagination and finish the story for yourself. Again, it costs nothing. And you can do it whenever you want. If you demand an ending to this story, and you demand it right now… then go ahead and make one up for yourself.
I’d wager he’s struggling with a few things.
First, creative indifference. No matter how much you love your creations, after a while, you just want to be done with them. He’s been at it more than long enough to have arrived at the ‘ho-hum’ phase, where the original ‘magic’ that kept you going has worn off.
Also, creating a version of the story that meets the ideas and quality he originally thought of while being a separate and better thing than the HBO series. People hated a lot of the story outcomes of the HBO series, but we don’t know if that’s because the story outcomes just weren’t set up well, or if they were just bad ideas from the start. It’s very possible that the book versions of the same outcomes (Dany’s turn, Bran taking the iron throne, Jon’s destiny) could be excellent if told correctly, and the show just failed them.
And, write a really good book.
I hope he is doing it for himself and not the vocal fans who hound him about it, because they’ve definitely proven by now that they don’t deserve it.
– Dagobot