Celebrity author George R.R. Martin may be best known for writing the Song of Ice and Fire series, which inspired the Game of Thrones show. Even though he’s respected for creating the world of Westeros, he has received a lot of flak from fans for being unable to release the next book, Winds of Winter, on time.
It’s still unclear when Martin will finish the book, but he did share in a recent interview what he would have changed with the series.
What would George R.R. Martin Change about A Song of Ice and Fire?
During an interview with the Oxford Writers’ House (via FandomWire), Martin was asked what he would change about the books, to which he joked, “Oh, I don’t know, I could probably change more than one thing. If I could change one thing about one of my books, I’d have them finished.”
Though fans could brush this off as a silly joke, Martin does explain further and compares himself to writer Gene Wolfe, who was also part of Martin’s writing group back in the ‘70s. Martin continues, “Believe it or not, I’m not taking all that time to write Winds of Winter just because I think I’m Gene Wolfe now. I would have loved to have it finished years ago. But yeah, that’s the thing I think I would change.”
For context, it was said that when Wolfe submitted his series The Book of the New Sun, he had already completed the entire series before showing it to any publisher, so he was able to go back and revise anything in previous books when he was writing some of the latter entries.
In Martin’s case, the Ice and Fire series had already been published and distributed, so there’s no chance for him to retcon some of the story elements he wrote.
Did Martin Write Himself into a Corner?
When it comes to the delay with Winds of Winter, many fans believe that Martin has simply written himself into a corner. He had set up certain things in the earlier books only to realize it may not be where he wanted the story to go.
There were hints that a mythical figure, Azor Ahai, would draw the weapon Lightbringer from a ‘loving wife’s heart.’ Many fans believe Jon Snow was actually Azor Ahai, but that also means that Jon would eventually have to kill someone he loved—which he does by the end of the series when he stabs Daenerys.
Book End vs. Series End
Seeing how the Game of Thrones finale was so poorly received, many fans think Martin is trying to find a way to make all of his set-ups work while avoiding the reaction that the series finale eventually got.
Though some think that the series ended with Martin’s original intention, the main issue was the lightning-fast pace at which the show got to where it did. Maybe with a couple more seasons, things would have made sense.
Whatever the case, nobody knows why Martin is getting delayed, but everyone is just hoping that he can complete the story before he dies of old age.
As of this article's writing, Winds of Winter has no release date.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!