# Will George Martin finish and publish books 6 and 7 for Game of Thrones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256 "2019-05-20T21:09:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/41 "2019-05-22T07:51:40Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > So I’ll have to disagree with **Busy Scissors** quite a bit as A Feast for Crows is my second favorite book of the series - at the time I was disappointed that it wasn’t as fast paced and nuts as my favorite book of the series (A Storm of Swords), but on re-reads I realized the masterpiece it was. It is very unlike the other books - each POV chapter is far longer than any other book. There is a lot more introspection. There is a lot more focus on the horrors of war on the smallfolk. I thought it was brilliant. And I really loved the look at Dorne (which are far more scheming than they are portrayed in the show) and the Iron Islands. > > I didn’t like A Dance of Dragons as much, but I did like the (f)Aegon storyline and what the invasion of the Stormlands means for Westeros. > > I can see Martin finish Book 6 at some point in the next few years (he has enough sample chapters after all). We’ll see after that. Thank you. I thought I was the only Doper who liked _A Feast for Crows_. I, too, liked the look at Dorne, and I thought the scene where Jaime intimidated Edmure Tully was one of the best in the series. More than anything else, it shows why Jamie is such a badass. In fact, all the scenes of him around the Tully castle are pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/42 "2019-05-22T07:53:07Z")
To get back to the original point of the thread, I really don’t give a damn if he finishes it or not. I bought ADWD and thought it was one of the worst books I’ve ever read. If he does come out with a sixth book, I’m reading it from the library. No way I’m wasting money again. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/43 "2019-05-22T15:00:03Z")
I sort of get the impression that his intended story arc was to start with the political squabblings, and then throw them into perspective by giving the claimants to the throne a _real_ crisis, to show just how insignificant something like the succession actually is. Note that “A Game of Thrones” (i.e., the squabbling between the potential heirs) is the title only of the first book, while the series as a whole is “A Song of Ice and Fire” (i.e., the Night King and dragons). But then he got caught up in the political stuff that he intended to be of secondary importance, and couldn’t stop it from expanding out to most of the series. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/44 "2019-05-22T16:21:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I sort of get the impression that his intended story arc was to start with the political squabblings, and then throw them into perspective by giving the claimants to the throne a _real_ crisis, to show just how insignificant something like the succession actually is. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case, it makes sense as an overarching plot and would have been an interesting way for the series to turn. It’s definitely clear that he’s got no handle on the series at this point, and I don’t expect him to actually finish books 6 and 7. He’ll publish something for book six eventually, and at some point either with his sign off or after his death someone will take notes and make a ‘book seven’ to wrap up the series, but it won’t be his work directly. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/45 "2019-05-22T21:42:51Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Thank you. I thought I was the only Doper who liked _A Feast for Crows_. I, too, liked the look at Dorne, and I thought the scene where Jaime intimidated Edmure Tully was one of the best in the series. More than anything else, it shows why Jamie is such a badass. In fact, all the scenes of him around the Tully castle are pretty good. Yes, the Riverlands stuff was great. Brienne in other parts of the Riverlands were also fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![betonbill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b782af/32.png) [@betonbill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betonbill)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/46 "2019-05-23T00:53:10Z")
On some interview or another he was asked about books #6 and 7, and he gave his usual “they’re coming along…someday…” However, he did mention that he expected the two of them to be around 3000 pages in length. Come on, give me a break. He’ll never finish them. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/47 "2019-05-23T01:24:18Z")
I think he’s further along in TWOW than we think. He’s released several chapters from it. A rumor I read recently from someone who was correct about show leaks claims he actually has written 2/3 or 3/4 of it or so. I don’t know how you’d know how far something that’s not done is going to be, but I guess you can estimate by previous books. Now, that last bit? That’s the part that could be anything: writer’s block, boredom, distraction, a tricky book problem he can’t figure out, too much to write so it gets overwhelming. I truly think he wants it done. I don’t know if he _can_, however, despite his best intentions. As for WOT, I didn’t read it until recently. I can’t really tell the difference between when Sanderson took over. It doesn’t really have his voice and I felt he did good doing RJ’s voice. I have read/heard many fans who were reading from the beginning and who are much more invested in it than I am that they really can tell when he took over. The reception is mixed. The middle WOT books were rough. A new author coming in at the same time they got interesting again? Was that the plots or the author? But having your series die out with no conclusion would be far worse than an author that you think didn’t capture it perfectly. I don’t think Sanderson is right for ASOIAF, though, should it ever need another author. And definitely not the two who helped with the world book (I could tell what Martin wrote and what they wrote and theirs was dreadful). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/48 "2019-05-23T01:46:37Z")
He gave New Zealand permission to hold him there if he doesn’t bring his next book with him in August 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/49 "2019-05-23T17:12:15Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I think he’s further along in TWOW than we think. He’s released several chapters from it. Pretty much every chapter he has released was intended for Dances with Dragons and didn’t make it. Even Arya’s one which seemed a significant time afterwards. Battle of Mereen (2 of them). Sansa’s (though there was reference that she was going to do something shocking before ADWD was published, and it wasn’t in that), pre Battle of Ice, and some of Aegon’s initial campaign via Martel’s posse. I think every single one of them was sitting as part of an unfinished chunk of ADWD deferred into Book 6, in 2011. I take it as absolutely no indication of any progress whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Premislaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f0a364/32.png) [@Premislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premislaus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/50 "2019-05-23T23:09:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The best thing Martin could have done was die circa 2013 so that Brandon Sanderson could finish the series. This Brandon Sanderson meme needs to die. He’s an observant Mormon who’s completely unsuitable to writing a risque, violent series like ASOIAF. Anyway, I think we’ll get some sort of Book 6 eventually, but there’s no way GRRM will live long enough to finish the series (which will require more than 7 books anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/51 "2019-05-23T23:52:27Z")
> [@Premislaus](#): > > This Brandon Sanderson meme needs to die. He’s an observant Mormon who’s completely unsuitable to writing a risque, violent series like ASOIAF. As a rabid Sanderfan… I have to agree. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/52 "2019-05-24T07:30:12Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > As a rabid Sanderfan… I have to agree. Yeah, yeah. Me too. Mark Lawrence, though… ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/53 "2019-05-24T07:52:04Z")
> [@Premislaus](#): > > This Brandon Sanderson meme needs to die. He’s an observant Mormon who’s completely unsuitable to writing a risque, violent series like ASOIAF. > > Anyway, I think we’ll get some sort of Book 6 eventually, but there’s no way GRRM will live long enough to finish the series (which will require more than 7 books anyway). Risque? No. Violent? _Mistborn_ wasn’t exactly lollipops and rainbows. Hell, it even had it’s own Red Wedding-esque scene, where you start to wonder a bit about the sanity of the protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/54 "2019-05-24T13:38:58Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > That’s very optimistic. Martin has been EXTREMELY busy in the time since the last book. He is actually a pretty prolific writer. He’s just not writing Winds of Winter, he is writing other stuff. Just because it’s been eight years since the last book doesn’t mean WoW has progressed much, not when he has put out so much other stuff. I’m not just assuming he’s worked on Winds of Winter. He’s released almost 100 pages worth of sample chapters in one form or another. Some were released online, some he has read at cons. From various interviews it sounds like he’s done a decent amount of work on it, but in his mind it is not nearly enough because the story is so mammoth. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256/55 "2019-05-24T18:51:26Z")
He says The Winds of Winter will be finished before August of next year. I could see him living another decade (or two?) after that and finishing A Dream of Spring. I won’t hold my breath, but I expect the series to conclude, eventually. Hopefully before I’m Martin’s age. That said, he didn’t make it easy on himself, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t finish it, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-george-martin-finish-and-publish-books-6-and-7-for-game-of-thrones/834256.md?page=2)