Game Of Thrones creator George RR Martin has strongly denied claims he’s already finished the sixth and seventh books in The Song Of Ice And Fire saga.
The show’s final season is set to conclude on Sunday, which looks set to reveal who, if anyone, will reign supreme on the Iron Throne.
As the show wraps, attention has inevitably turned to whether the book series will swiftly follow suit in its journey to completion – with the most recent, A Dance Of Dragons, releasing way back in 2011.
It was recently claimed (via Reddit) by actor Ian McElhinney, who plays Barristan Selmy, Martin has already finished the last two books The Winds Of Winter and A Dream Of Spring, but he hasn’t published them yet due to a deal with show network HBO.
At a panel in April during Epic Con in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ian said: ‘I don’t know if you know more than me about this, but what I’ve been told is that George has already written books six and seven.
‘And as far as he’s concerned, there only are seven books. But he struck an agreement with David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss], the showrunners of the series, that he would not publish the final two books until the series has completed.
‘So all goes well, in another month or two, we might get books six and seven, and I’m intrigued to know how Barristan, for instance, ends up going through those final two books.’
In a recent blog post, Martin has since adamantly denied the claims, writing: ‘It seems absurd to me that I need to state this.
‘The world is round, the Earth revolves around the sun, water is wet… do I need to say that too? It boggles me that anyone would believe this story, even for an instant. It makes not a whit of sense.
‘Why would I sit for years on completed novels? Why would my publishers – not just here in the US, but all around the world – ever consent to this? They make millions and millions of dollars every time a new Ice & Fire book comes out, as do I. Delaying makes no sense.
‘Why would HBO want the books delayed? The books help create interest in the show, just as the show creates interest in the books.
‘So… no, the books are not done. HBO did not ask me to delay them. Nor did David & Dan. There is no ‘deal’ to hold back on the books. I assure you, HBO and David & Dan would both have been thrilled and delighted if THE WINDS OF WINTER had been delivered and published four or five years ago… and NO ONE would have been more delighted than me.’
The penultimate episode of Game Of Thrones saw deaths aplenty, as a spectacular battle fuelled by dragon fire kicked off at King’s Landing.
Game Of Thrones continues Sundays on HBO and Sky Atlantic. You can catch-up on episodes so far on NOW TV.
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