It's Finally Safe To Assume George R.R. Martin Will Never Finish 'Game of Thrones' Books

Football season is over and thus fans seek a new form of entertainment to fill the void over the next seven months. Options include but are not limited to watching other sports, finding a television show to follow, and going outside. 

What’s not an option is reading the long-awaited novel, "The Winds of Winter." 

Thirteen years have passed since George R.R. Martin last published an installment of "A Song of Ice and Fire" (ASOIAF), the book series on which "Game of Thrones" is based.

Martin continues to update readers by saying his progress on "Winds" is ongoing. But the book never hits shelves.

"Winds" is the most hyped book of the past decade, bar none. Book followers clamor for a conclusion. Viewers of "Thrones" clamor for a more fluently-told finish than the one presented on HBO.

Yet we are approaching a point in which it’s safe to assume Martin will never finish the series. Remember, "Winds" is not the final-planned novel of the series. 

"A Dream of Spring" is.

The last book, "A Dance with Dragons," is only synced up with Season 5 of the eight-season television show. Cersei Lannister is not even queen in the books yet. 

Martin has a long, long way to go.

He is 75 years old. He claims to have not even started "A Dream." At this rate, he will run out of life before penning the final chapter of the final book.

That’s if he can even finish "Winds." And I’m skeptical he can.

Martin said he had completed 1,100 pages of "Winds" in December 2022. He said he had about 500 more to go. Then he admitted he hit a wall last year. 

Another wall, that is.

He called 2023 a "nightmare year" for him "personally and professionally." In November, Martin announced on his blog he is still sitting on 1,100 pages. He hadn’t completed a single new page in over 11 months.

"Maybe I should've started writing smaller books when I began this but it's tough," posted Martin.

Perhaps he should have.

George R.R. Martin claims "Game of Thrones" showrunners pushed him out. (Credit: Getty Images and HBO)

Hopefuls predicted that the oft-maligned, clunky finish to "Game of Thrones" – which featured Martin’s planned ending up struggled to fill in the gaps – would motivate the author to speed up his writing style.

It didn't.

The problem isn't a lack of motivation. Martin is leaving tens of millions on the table by not concluding his series. Only his books can save the legacy of the franchise he created. He has all the motivation needed

George R.R. Martin is stuck. He’s lost. 

He created a fantasy so wide, with so many characters, so many promises, so many regions, so many loose ends, so much history, and so much fine detail that making sense of it all might not be feasible – even for the creator of the fantasy. 

Crafting a story and planning an ending is entirely different than tying it all together. 

Martin has also spoken candidly about the expectations and pressure to perfect future novels, given the monocultural impact of "Thrones."

Unreasonable expectations have certainly played a role in Martin’s struggle to get out of his own way and head.

And that’s unfortunate, for all parties.

Martin’s inability to finish the novels impeded show creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss’ ability to further adapt the story on HBO, forcing the showrunners to fill in the blanks themselves. 

Benioff and Weiss did not sign up to write fan fiction. Martin promised them he’d finish the book series.

Likewise, book readers didn’t sign up to invest hours, weeks, months, and years into thousands of manuscripts to never reach a conclusion.

"A Song of Ice and Fire" had a chance to eclipse "Lord of the Rings" as the premiere piece of fantasy literature. But without an ending, it’s just another high-fantasy series that never lived up to J. R. R. Tolkien’s standard.

So, no, we don’t in good conscience recommend you turn to "Game of Thrones" or "ASOIAF" for post-Super Bowl entertainment. They would just disappoint you, too.