George RR Martin 'Hugely Behind' on 'The Winds Of Winter'

I've said since the 7th season of Game of Thrones that George RR Martin would fail to finish his book series, A Song of Ice and Fire. There are now concerns that Martin won't even finish The Winds of Winter, the planned penultimate novel of the series. Martin revealed this week on his blog that he has, again, fallen "hugely behind" on a project, which we assume means The Winds of Winter.

"When a lot of stuff happens very fast, I fall further and further behind. I am hugely behind right now, and the prospect of trying to catch up is feeling increasingly oppressive," Martin writes.

That doesn't sound good.

It has been 10 years since the last book of the series, A Dance with Dragons, was released. If Martin can't finish Winds in a decade, how long will A Dream of Spring, the final and longest novel of the series, take?

Perhaps, there is not enough time in life to close every Martin-formed storyline. Maybe this book series grew too large, too deep, too in-depth for a conclusion. That TV ending may be all we get. 

To make matters worse, Martin now has less time than ever to wrap up the journey. Martin just signed a new five-year deal with HBO, said to be in the mid-eight figures; is the co-creator and executive producer of the upcoming House of the Dragon series; and is adapting Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death and Roger Zelazny’s Roadmarks for HBO. Not a great schedule for one suffering from, well, I won't even call it writer's block at this point.