Shocking!! The Winds of Winter Won’t Get Released in 2018!!!
Okay, this probably doesn’t surprise anybody. Last week Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin announced on his blog that The Winds of Winter won’t be ready for publication in 2018. Instead, he’s putting out some history book called Fire and Blood about the Targaryen kings.
Are you serious? Fire & F***ing Blood?? Nobody cares about that! The world wants The Winds of Winter!!!!
I don’t even read the Song of Ice and Fire books, and this ticks me off. It’s been several years since the last Games of Thrones novel, Martin is working on a bunch of projects, his blog posts are long when he should be writing The Winds of Winter instead, and the HBO series has caught up with his books. In other words, finish A Game of Thrones!
I don’t even want to know what the book fanatics are feeling. Like I said, I don’t read the Song of Ice and Fire series, but I empathize with the frustrated fans. When I was a kid, I got depressed after I saw The Empire Strikes Back because there was a cliffhanger and I knew I’d have to wait three years for the next movie. That was a crappy feeling, so it has to be even worse for Game of Thrones fans when The Winds of Winter deadline keeps getting pushed back.
On the other hand, the books might be a lot better if George R.R. Martin takes his time. When George Lucas met his three-year deadline with Return of the Jedi, he gave us Ewoks. Maybe if Lucas had waited an extra year, he might have come up with something better. Fans will be pissed if the White Walkers are defeated not by dragons and Valyrian steel, but by tiny furry huggable creatures.
It wouldn’t be so bad if Martin was devoting all his time to The Winds of Winter, but he isn’t. George R.R. Martin spends a lot of time writing stuff that isn’t A Song of Ice and Fire. He writes Dunk and Egg stories. He writes histories of his fantasy world. To me, those are things he should write AFTER he’s done with A Song of Ice and Fire. Dunk and Egg stories are okay, but I want to know what happens in Westeros. And I really don’t give a flip about Targaryen kings.
If George R.R. Martin passes before he finishes A Song of Ice and Fire (and I really hope that doesn’t happen), the first thing that some readers will think is “Now I’ll never find out what happens next! What a rip-off!” They might feel guilty for thinking it, but it’ll be tough not to think it.
Maybe George R.R. Martin doesn’t want to finish Game of Thrones. Every time he falls behind, it gets him a lot of attention, and a bunch of fans remind him how they can’t wait to read his next book. That probably feels great. Once he’s done with the series, that’s it. His readers will be exhausted, and a bunch of them will be angry at how he ended the series.
No matter how Martin ends the series, somebody will be angry. It’s impossible to finish a series like Game of Thrones without making some readers mad. Maybe he thinks he’d be better off by never finishing the whole series. But I don’t care what Martin thinks; waiting forever for a book series that will never be completed is way worse than waiting three years for a trilogy that ends with Ewoks.
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What do you think? Is seven years between books too long? Should Martin spend his time writing anything he wants (like 900 page history books about Westeros)? Or should his first priority be Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire?
Dysfunctional Literacy 
Seven years between books is way too long (especially when I know he’s writing other things)! At this point, I’d take a rough draft of Winds of Winter. t doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, I wouldn’t be upset if he pulled a George Lucas and threw in some Ewoks (the books could actually use a little levity). I’m just tired of waiting.
I used to get exasperated with fans getting so angry with Martin over the time lag between books – they’re his creation, surely he can do as he likes.
Then I realised: it’s been seven years since the last one; he keeps pushing the deadline back; he’s writing daft prequels in the meantime. I mean – enough is truly enough George! I think, given how long it takes him to write the books (and that the next isn’t even supposed to be the last one), that it’s entirely possible the series won’t be finished before he dies.
Perhaps he has some huge plot problems he can’t iron out. Perhaps he has some big psychological problems around finishing the books, fan expectation, signing off on such a huge series and saying goodbye to the characters.
Maybe he’s a stubborn old goat who digs his heels in over something the more he’s pushed.
I’ve watched the series but not not read the books and I now really want to read the books. But at least if I do I won’t have high expectations of an ending.
Yeah, George does seem to get distracted! One can only speculate as to why. I’m up to date on reading the books but kind of losing hope that he’ll finish the series.
I’ve read the books and they were pretty great. While I’m ready for the next book in the series to come out, I’m spending time reading other books. Plus I’ll probably have to reread the books in the series I’ve already completed just to remember everything. I know there’s the show too (which I’ve also caught up on), but the books were a joy to read I wouldn’t mind reading them again. I think I’d honestly prefer him to take his time and the next book turn out great than have the book released and it sucks.
Hope he doesn’t die before he finishes it.
I hope he also hopes he doesn’t die before he finishes it.
Let’s face it, Martin probably doesn’t want to finish the series. At this point
…he had been working on the series for over 20 years, so I imagine his initial enthusiasm for the series has waned quite a bit, while the readers expectations keep rising, so I wouldn’t be surprised if to Martin finishing the series now feels like a chore.
Hence the constant delays and veering off onto other projects – all the clearest signs of procrastination.
My advice: stick with the show. At least the people working on it are committed to a schedule.