George R.R. Martin just issued his clearest and most resounding answer to the oft-discussed topic about who will finish The Winds of Winter and A Song of Ice and Fire if for some reason he can't.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the premiere of the Game of Thrones prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, on Sunday, January 18, Martin revealed that no other author will finish The Winds of Winter or A Song of Ice and Fire in the event that he isn't able.
“If that happens, my work won’t be finished. It’ll be likeThe Mystery of Edwin Drood,” he told THR.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is, of course, the novel Charles Dickens was writing when he died in 1870. Unlike Dickens, Martin has already revealed the endings and essential plot points of The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring to other creatives, including The Expanse writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who publish together under the pen name James S.A. Corey, according to a report from Collider. Abraham and Franck, the latter of whom was actually Martin's assistant for a time, have collaborated with Martin on several projects in the past.
There's been so much talk — too much talk — about what's going to happen with The Winds of Winter and A Song of Ice and Fire if Martin passes away while writing the story, including having Abraham and Franck take over the series. A fan even asked Martin the question, rudely, during a panel at WorldCon earlier this year.
The obvious parallel is The Wheel of Time, which was finished by Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan's death in 2007, but the circumstances for that situation were very different. Martin makes it clear in the interview that he's old, but he's still working on many, many projects, including The Winds of Winter, which currently sits at 1,100 pages in the manuscript.
“I’m old, so I have some old-people stuff. My lower back hurts sometimes. I don’t like to stand around. But I feel OK. Maybe you should make that your headline: ‘George R.R. Martin Is Not Dying,'” he joked.
Martin also opened up a little bit about how the question at WorldCon and open discussions about his death, and the series dying with him, made him feel. "“I really didn’t need that shit," he said. "Nobody needs that shit.”
Honestly, it makes me quite sad that Martin even has to answer questions about this topic at all. I can't imagine what that feels like to be so beloved but also be reduced to a creative machine to satisfy fans' never-ending appetites.
It's so inappropriate to obviously ask someone so bluntly about what happens to their book series after they die. It's also inappropriate, in my opinion, to even consider what's going to happen. Martin, while an expert of his craft, one of the greatest authors of our lifetime, and an incredible artist, is human, and he deserves respect from all of those who consider themselves to be a fan of his or his works.
Why George R.R. Martin won't abandon The Winds of Winter
When July 2026 rolls around, it will officially mark 15 years since the release of A Dance of Dragons, the fifth book of A Song of Ice and Fire. Since the book was published in 2011, fans have been begging for The Winds of Winter.
After waiting for 15 years, and even longer for fans who started the book series long before Game of Thrones premiered on HBO, it's understandable that readers could be frustrated that it's taken so long for The Winds of Winter. We obviously want to know what's next for these great characters.
At the end of the day, though, this is Martin's story to tell, and he's going to be the one to tell it, even if it's been an incredibly frustrating process for him as well.
THR even asked Martin, after sharing all the projects he's working on, why he wouldn't just give up on finishing The Winds of Winter when it's turned into such a great stressor and painful part of the process.
Martin shot down the idea immediately. “I would hate that. It would feel like a total failure to me. I want to finish," he said.
So, that's that! There's no immediate news about The Winds of Winter right now, but Martin is still working on the story, and that's obviously a positive sign. The even better news is that we're probably going to get more stories about Dunk and Egg in the near future, too.
With A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' imminent premiere and House of the Dragon season 3 coming later this year on HBO, things are looking quite good for Martin's Westeros.