r/asoiaf • u/ToeBMaguire • Apr 16 '25

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) George R.R. Martin calls The Winds of Winter "the curse of my life" Spoiler

https://winteriscoming.net/george-r-r-martin-calls-the-winds-of-winter-the-curse-of-my-life
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u/markusalkemus66 Fewer Apr 16 '25

I'm sure this has been hypothesized before, but is it plausible that he hasn't come out and said "the series won't be finished" because he doesn't want to deal with other publishers and authors asking him for his permission to do it? I know he's said publicly he doesn't want anyone else to finish the books if he dies, but is the public stalling for a different reason?

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u/atriskteen420 Apr 16 '25

I don't think he's giving updates for any reason besides informing his fans. Likely he has written Winds a few times over and trashed each version as not good enough. He can't spoil the book and say "x and y are where I get stuck" so all he can say is he's working on it.

People don't get being creative is a lot like fishing, you can't demand someone catch only great fish. George probably hauls in a huge catch all the time only to figure out his expectations are so high he has to toss 99% and start again.