“George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.” Lauded sci-fi writer Neil Gaiman said that back in 2009 in response to a fan who was getting testy over Martin’s comparatively measly six-year gap between 2005’s A Feast for Crows and 2011’s A Dance with Dragons. Oh, my sweet summer child: if you only knew the long night of waiting soon to be in store for you.
What that unsuspecting fan and Gaiman weren’t aware of back in 2009 – and what we’re all painfully aware of now – is Martin’s monstrous 12-year gap between the fifth A Song of Ice and Fire book, and his next installment, The Winds of Winter. Throughout this waiting period between books, Martin has made a lot of predictions on when he might finish. Suffice it to say, none of these predictions could be considered anywhere close to accurate.
Initially, fans were understanding of Martin’s predicament. These books are some of the lengthiest and most narratively intricate works in all of fantasy literature. It makes sense Martin might have trouble untying some of the knots as the finish line nears. Finding a satisfactory conclusion to a story that spans two continents geographically with over 2000 named characters is not an enviable task for any author. For the first few years of waiting, most of the fan community was happy to sit tight and wait for Martin to conclude the story in the timeframe that best suited him. After all, we had Game of Thrones to hold us over.
But it didn’t take long for the blessing that was Game of Thrones to turn into a curse. By the time Thrones’ sixth season reared its head, Martin’s procrastination had resulted in the adaptation surpassing the source material narratively. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss had to finish adapting Martin’s magnum opus with mere plot outlines and conversations with the author for inspiration. The absence of Martin’s pithy prose and careful plotting caused a chain reaction that birthed one of the most lambasted series finales in the history of television. Most people blamed the showrunners for this fiasco, but a savvy subsection of fans knew there was another who deserved his fair share of scorn: Martin himself.
But are fans right to direct their anger at Martin? Or has Gaiman had the right idea all along? Does Martin owe something to the fans that provided him with fame, fortune, and exalted status in the world of literature? Or are fans asking too much of the author? Well, to put it mildly, it’s complicated. Let me explain.
The death of duty
You can likely count on one hand the number of stories told in the 21st century that have impacted culture as much as Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. The series has sold over 90 million copies, been printed in 47 languages, and spawned one of the most iconic television shows of all time. It has far ascended the conventional confines of the fantasy genre, and its impact has woven its way throughout every nook and cranny of the cultural zeitgeist. How many artists, living or dead, can truly say the same of their work?
Even in its unfinished state, A Song of Ice and Fire has already earned an irrevocable designation in the annals of fantasy literature history – right next to Tolkien, Le Guin, and Lewis. By all rights, Martin should feel an inherent duty to himself and the rest of the world to finish this landmark saga of his. And not only for the living fans incessantly hectoring him on social media; but for the millions of would-be readers in generations to come. By not finishing this series, he does all of them, and culture writ large, a sorry disservice.
But clearly, Martin doesn’t see it this way. And, of course, that is his right. When push comes to shove, this is his intellectual property and his time, and he can do whatever he wants with both of them. He could decide tomorrow that The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are taking a trip to a one-way trip to the paper shredder, and there would be nothing that fans could do about it. Considering the projects Martin chooses to direct his focus on these days, one could be forgiven for believing he wishes he could do just that.
In the time between 2011’s A Dance with Dragons and now, Martin has vastly diversified the scope of his workload. Whether through boredom or good old-fashioned writer’s block, Martin seems to have put A Song of Ice and Fire on the backburner in favor of other creative efforts. Perhaps most notably, Martin played an instrumental role in writing and producing the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. He’s also been closely involved with HBO as they fine-tune several Thrones-adjacent spin-off series – prime among them being House of the Dragon, which draws its source material from his often tedious Targaryen history book Fire and Blood.
So if Martin doesn’t feel a sense of duty to secure his legacy by gifting the world a proper conclusion to A Song of Ice and Fire, what about his responsibility to his fans? What about the people who supported him from the very beginning? For newer readers and Game of Thrones watchers, it’s easy to forget that the first book in the saga came out in 1996. Some exceptionally faithful and rightfully frustrated fans have been engaging with Martin’s work and supporting him financially for 27 years. As we all know: a Lannister always pays his debts. However, whether a Martin follows suit is yet to be seen.
What about the fans, George?
I am angry with George R. R. Martin, and I think that’s okay. Maybe angry is a strong word. Let me revise that: I am a tad bit miffed with George R. R. Martin, and I’ll explain exactly why that is. When a writer, or any artist for that matter, creates a work as singular and beloved as A Song of Ice and Fire, they’ve automatically entered into a contract of sorts. This contract isn’t binding – and it certainly won’t hold up in any municipality’s Small Claims court – but to the fans who’ve invested themselves deeply in the work and woven it into the fabric of their lives – it’s real.
The reader’s end of the bargain is to keep reading and buying the work, and the author’s end is to finish the work. It’s as simple as that. You can’t just get millions of people to hang on your every written word and then decide to flake out on your masterpiece in the third act. But by all indications I can glean, Martin doesn’t believe this contract exists. He often meets the frustration and disappointment of fans with detachment and annoyance. He’s never outright said, “I don’t owe you an ending,” but his attitude often suggests it.
But beyond the dismissiveness, what bothers me most is his apparent disregard for his own legacy. If House of the Dragon is the standard-bearer, I can safely assume the HBO shows he’s working on will be excellent, and Tales of Dunk and Egg will be as well, but on some level, Martin has to understand that A Song of Ice and Fire is what he should be focusing on at this point in his life. Let’s not beat around the bush: he’s no spring chicken anymore. If it took him 12 years to jot down three-quarters of The Winds of Winter – at 74 years old, the odds are very much against him to finish the final book in the series in time. Can you imagine a world in which Tolkien became too distracted with Elvish history side-projects to complete Return of the King? I shudder at the thought.
If you’re a fan that feels like Martin let you down, you’re not alone, and you’re not wrong. For over a decade, he’s been shooing away his massive fan base while treating procrastination like a full-time job. However, we shouldn’t be too hard on the guy. He created something so brilliant and readable that it started to make people hate him for not making more of it. That, in and of itself, is a feat to be respected and admired.