The Expanse authors won’t finish A Song of Ice and Fire for George R.R. Martin

Ty Franck, one of the authors of The Expanse books, rules out completing George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire should the worst happen. “That time has passed.”

For a while now, A Song of Ice and Fire fans have expressed anxiety about a certain taboo subject: what if, for whatever reason, George R.R. Martin is unable to complete his epic fantasy saga? Would it be possible for someone else to take up the task, or would the series simply remain incomplete?

The topic is taboo because it’s pretty grisly to speculate about the death of someone still alive, and Martin himself has made clear what he thinks about people who ask him about his mortality:

And yet…it’s not like this situation hasn’t arisen before. Famously, Robert Jordan died before he could complete his Wheel of Time series. Working with Jordan’s family, fantasy author Brandon Sanderson completed the final three books in the series, to mostly rave reviews.

But it doesn’t always work out that way. Frank Herbert died before he could complete his Dune series. His son Brian Herbert teamed with author Kevin J. Anderson to finish it and write several more spinoff books besides. By and large, those books haven’t been received as warmly.

But the point is that this kind of thing does happen, and fans have wondered whether, should the worst come to pass, whether any other authors might be willing to finish A Song of Ice and Fire. Sanderson himself has said he wouldn’t do it even if asked, since he doesn’t feel his style would be the right fit.

Another good option might be Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, the two-man team who write The Expanse novels under the name James S.A. Corey. The two know Martin, with Franck even serving as his assistant for a while. And according The Wertzone, it was Abraham’s idea to split the ballooning manuscript for Martin’s fourth A Song of Ice and Fire book into two volumes separated by geography, which resulted in A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons. Plus, The Expanse series has been called Game of Thrones in space on account of its focus on warring factions and complex characters. If anybody was a natural fit to complete ASOIAF, it would seem to be these two.

But don’t count on it happening. Writing under the @JamesSACorey account on Twitter, Ty Franck shared that: A) he thinks that Martin has given his estate strict instructions not to allow anyone to finish A Song of Ice and Fire for him, and; B) while there was a time when they could have paid himself and Abraham enough to complete the series, “that time has passed.”

We’ve heard conflicting things about whether Martin would allow the series to be finished by someone else should he be unable. We cling to this quote from Adam Whitehead, who runs The Wertzone:

"What he also said, once at a convention (possibly WorldCon 2012 or 2013), with a long-suffering look, is that if he was in the same situation as Robert Jordan, being diagnosed with a terminal illness but with a couple of years warning, then he would strongly consider writing a detailed outline or even talking to another writer about doing it (he knows a few). But it’d have to be that very specific set of circumstances."

I’m not entirely sure what Franck means when he says that the time has passed for he and Abraham to even consider finishing the series, though.

Hopefully all of this will be moot and we’ll be moot and we’ll be reading a new A Song of Ice and Fire book before long. The signs have been encouraging of late.

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