Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson has been asked a question fans raise a lot: if George R.R. Martin never finishes “A Song of Ice and Fire,” would Sanderson step in; the way he finished “The Wheel of Time” after Robert Jordan died?
His answer is “no.”
What Sanderson actually expressed
In an interview with IGN, Sanderson put it plainly:
“Respectfully, I’m the wrong person to do this — and I think most fans of both of our works would agree.”
He explained that his own books grew, in part, as a reaction to Martin’s series. Martin’s books were themselves a reaction to 1990s fantasy like “The Wheel of Time.” The styles don’t match. Sanderson writes faster, cleaner, more “solved” stories.” Martin writes messy, grim, political and mysterious ones. Fans of both usually know that.
Add WoT as a preferred source on Google.
“If I were to say yes, I would do my best to write it exactly as fans want and expect, but I would not say yes – because there are much more natural fits out there, and if George decided to go that direction, he’d deserve someone who is as good a fit for his world.”
He also doesn’t think Martin wants anyone else to take over. So the better move, he said, is to support Martin while he writes at his own speed.
Credits: HBO
Why people even ask
Sanderson finished Jordan’s series after Jordan died. That worked because Sanderson loved those books and could match their tone. “The Winds of Winter” has been delayed for years. Some readers treat Sanderson as the obvious backup, while he is saying he is not.
He also asked for patience.
“Writing can be a lonely profession, and we all know the difficulty of a book that just WILL NOT work.”
The only way “A Song of Ice and Fire” gets finished, in his view, is if readers support Martin and remember that novels are still made by one person, not a studio.
So, Sanderson is basically refusing to finish Martin’s Game of Thrones work out of respect for the material.
