Still waiting for the next Game of Thrones book? Well, George RR Martin can’t tell you when it’ll be released but he at least does have an explanation for his tardiness.
Game of Thrones fans have been waiting for what feels like a lifetime for the ever-elusive sixth book in the series, The Winds of Winter, to be published. The next installment is, in fact, so late that the TV series on HBO has even surpassed events in the book.
Fear not though as George, 70, says Winds of Winter is still on its way and blames the novel’s intricate plot details on the delay.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the Emmys 2018, George explained: ‘I’m working on [The Winds of Winter], and I wish I’d been done four years ago, but I’m slow and the book is very complex, although there are a lot of great distractions out there.’
The TV series finished filming its final episodes for season eight earlier this year but George was a notable absence on set – because he’s got a long-awaited book to write, of course.
George admitted: ‘Going to set is a lot of fun but there’s nothing for me to do there, so I thought I better stay home and not go to Croatia; or Spain; or Belfast, [Northern] Ireland. I still have two books to write.’
We would’ve taken the holidays, actually.
It’s probably a good job that George doesn’t have complete control of the TV series, as the writer admitted he would’ve allowed HBO to string the show along for 13 seasons. So Winds of Winter definitely would have been a myth.
George told Variety at the awards ceremony this week: ‘We could’ve gone 11, 12, 13 seasons. David and Dan have been saying for like five seasons that seven seasons is all they would go.
‘We got them to go to eight but not any more than that. There was a period like five years ago when they were saying seven seasons and I was saying 10 seasons and they won, they’re the ones actually working on it.’
George shouldn’t feel too bad, though, as the book isn’t all fans are waiting for. A premiere date for GoT’s anticipated season eight is yet to be released, with showrunners only stating ‘early 2019’ for a projected release.
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