George R.R. Martin Is OK with Game of Thrones Finishing First

What are the Kübler-Ross model stages of grief again? Anger, denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance. We’ve seen Martin go through some of these stages in the last couple of years as the deadline for The Winds of Winter kept slipping farther and farther into the future. Not really the anger, except a few times, when callous fans speculated that he would die before finishing. (I mean, come now. That’s just rude.) But there was plenty of denial, as he insisted that he still had time even as Season 4 rounded the corner and the math began to say otherwise. Then came the bargaining, as he suggested that he wouldn’t mind seeing the show move from TV to the movie houses for the final battles, which would buy him more time. If there was depression, we didn’t see it. All we saw was a renewed commitment to finish Book 6 before Season 6.

Martin reacts to rude fan speculation

And now finally, the acceptance. As those who follow NotABlog know, Martin is in Spokane this week at the Sasquan science-fiction convention. Among other things, he read aloud a chapter from The Winds of Winter, which was apparently one he’s read before—ARIANNE, a POV character the TV series has cut wholesale. (Her role has been sort of taken by Ellaria Sand.) But when asked during subsequent Q&A about how he felt about the show getting so ahead of him, Martin’s response was one that made it clear he was at peace with it.

“The show is moving forward like a locomotive, or sometimes a jet locomotive,” Martin said. “They’re writing 60-page scripts, I’m writing 1,500-page novels. So who the hell knows? There was a period where I was worried about that,” he said. “Then I said, to hell with that. Worrying about it isn’t going to change it one way or another. I still sit down at the typewriter, and I have to write the next scene and the next sentence … I’m just going to tell my story, and they’re telling their story and adapting my books, and we shall see.”

Not that he’s any more willing to commit to when Book 6 will come out. Despite a renewed commitment last Spring to getting it done, he’s learned not to over-promise. Not that anyone should be asking. As we all know, when you ask about the next book, he kills off another Stark. Or, since he’s running out of them, maybe he’ll just kill you instead.

“Don’t ask me when the book is going to be done — I’ll ask my minions to lop your head off.”

Duly noted.

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