The last time George RR Martin published a novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire series was in 2011 when Game of Thrones was debuting on HBO.
Since then, the 76-year-old has continued to work on the penultimate book, The Winds of Winter, which still doesn’t have a publication date over five years after the TV show ended.
At one point, he was rushing to get it written before season 6 began development, but in the end, he gave the showrunners his planned plot points for his last two books so they could finish Game of Thrones.
The author sporadically gives vague progress updates on his blog, at one point implying that The Winds of Winter would be published by Summer 2020.
And now his latest news is a devastating confession that fans could probably see coming.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Martin said: “Unfortunately, I am 13 years late. Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ I don’t know, it happens a day at a time. But that’s still a priority. A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They’re saying] ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished.’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!”
The author added that he could never retire as he’s “not a golfer”, but even if he does finish The Winds of Winter, then the 76-year-old still has A Dream of Spring to go.
Given all his other projects, including Game of Thrones TV spin-offs, more Dunk and Egg shorts and Fire and Blood Volume 2, tragically, his distractions and procrastination will only grow. It’s always possible that if Martin doesn’t finish the books in his lifetime, then another fantasy author could do so for him. After all, Brandon Sanderson wrote The Wheel of Time’s final three novels on behalf of the late Robert Jordan.