On Monday, we fans of the A Game of Thrones book series were treated to a rarity: George R. R. Martin wrote a blog post (http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2019/05/20/an-ending/) on the final, upcoming books, whilst waving goodbye to the popular television series.
He wrote: “Winter is coming, I told you, long ago… and so it is. THE WINDS OF WINTER is very late, I know, I know, but it will be done. I won’t say when, I’ve tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself… but I will finish it, and then will come A DREAM OF SPRING.”
Finally! We have been reassured that work is actually in the pipeline, and that there are also plans for the final book. Many of us have been waiting for years to read The Winds of Winter, and although we could be waiting a couple of years longer, to see Martin typing the words “It will be done.” massively excites me. There is a lot of discussion surrounding Martin and his final books, regarding whether he is taking so long writing them for selfish reasons (he doesn’t want to let go of the world or the characters that he has created), or simply because he is trying to make the ending of something he has nursed carefully for so long as perfect as possible. My conclusion is: probably both. Martin is known for his beautiful descriptions, in-depth character work and complex storylines, all of which (I can only imagine) takes a lot of time to perfect. However, I can also imagine how difficult it must be to realise that a series of writing that you have loved creating, as well as thrived with, is almost coming to an end. We can see how much the television show meant to him in this blog post; imagine when it’s the books!
He goes on… “How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different? Well… yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.”
Oh, how I love it when Martin tells us what we want to hear; he is a man of straight-forward, non-confusing nature. Already, there are whispers on the internet discussing how people think the conclusion of the books will be, some of which I think would be incredible to read, however Martin continues by reminding us that “There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books… So if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet.” I have been so engrossed with the past few seasons of the television show that I had completely forgot about some of these characters. I am sure that people are excited to read about their fate in Westeros, but is Martin reminding us of these characters to imply that someone who doesn’t appear in the show has real significance in the books’ ending? I can’t wait to find out.
“Book or show, which will be the “real” ending? It’s a silly question. How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have?”, wrote Martin, making reference to Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. In his true, cut-throat, no-nonsense fashion, he concludes the post with: “How about this? I’ll write it. You read it. Then everyone can make up their own mind, and argue about it on the internet.”
Words by Morgan Hartley.