George R Martin is still writing the penultimate Game of Thrones book The Winds of Winter, 14 years on from publishing A Dance with Dragons.
In that time, the Game of Thrones TV show has come and gone, and fans are concerned the almost 77-year-old author will never finish A Song of Ice and Fire.
Brandon Sanderson famously completed The Wheel of Time for the late Robert Jordan, and some fans have speculated that the sci-fi-fantasy writer (who gets books out much, much quicker than Martin) might have to do the same for The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
Now in a shock move, an angry fan has brought this up with Martin, in front of Sanderson, in a live Q&A at a WorldCon panel.
In the awkward interaction, the fan said: “Here’s the thing, George you’re not going to be around for much longer…” At which point the audience started to boo her. She continued: “And this is a tough question, but I wanted to ask…this is more directed at Brandon… I was wondering, like, how would you feel about someone else taking over and finishing the books?” Unsurprisingly, the panel was cut short as Martin, Sanderson and the others were ushered off stage.