My theory is that the show ending was the way he was going to end the books, but doesn't know what to do now that everyone hated the ending
this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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I think that's part of it... plus he's been fucking stuck for years
That may be true. The way I see it, he's got nothing to gain and everything to lose if he finishes it. Since GOT, he's now in great demand as a fantasy writer in the movie/video realm. Hollywood is showering him with lucrative deals. So, if he finishes WOW and it flops, after having worked on it for 13 years, it will call into question his status as the "go-to" fantasy guy. No one likes a loser, especially Hollywood, because investing millions into productions that flop hurts the bottom line. Conversely, if he finishes it and it's a great success, it doesn't really do much for him. He's already in great demand, and it's not like he'll suddenly have more opportunities open to him as a result of the success of WOW. So finishing WOW is now a situation where it can only hurt him and not help him.
The problem wasn't the ending itself, it is just how abruptly it happened. It would be the equivalent of Frodo simply riding the eagle from shire to mount doom. Same ending, but a much shittier story.
The problem is that GRRM has written himself into a corner, and simply needs to bite the bullet and retcon/rewrite previously published books to make it work.
The thing is, he has no reason to end the series. People either love it or hate it, chances that people will be disappointed is so much higher than people genuinely like it. He probably never really had a plan at all, and seeing how people reacted to game of thrones made him realise that the best game plan is to not finish it, so people can just fantasise on how good the ending would've been
That's how the writers got the job. Correctly predicting the ending.
Because of George Martin and Rothfuss I will not read a new series unless the last book has already been written. Sorry authors but this shit is too annoying for readers.
I decided when the show was on that I'd love to buy and read the books, when they're finished. We're over a decade past that and still haven't bothered to even crack open the first. Doubt I ever will
Yeah I 10/10 believe the world got too big and too detailed for him to handle. Hot take: I don’t think he’s nearly as talented a fantasy writer as he puts on. Readers already started pointing out inconsistencies. Then when you add in how the show ended, I’m sure that sealed the deal for him that the story will be “under construction” in perpetuity.
That's a good point, he may just not be skilled enough to finish it. Annoying thing is that surely he could just get the white walkers to finish off loads of characters he's stuck on!
I think the show definitely knocked the wind out of his already massive sails.
He couldn't write it fast enough to finish before the show did so we got a shitty sped up ending that he should completely ignore. Write out people the way that makes literary sense and it will make people happier than the show ending.
Take the unhappiness of the fans to show you what you should avoid for sure and maybe hire some assistance to get this shit to the presses.
Why don't we just cut to the chase and have Brandon Sanderson finish it already?
[off topic?]
Wild Cards is Martin's collaborative effort with dozens of other writers over more than three decades. In 1946 the WW2 hero JetBoy died when he prevented an alien bioweapon from being fully deployed. If it had gone off as intended millions would have died. As it was thousands were affected by the 'Wild Card' virus. Most people drew the Black Card and died. Many others drew a Joker and were turned into hideous freaks of all sorts. A luck few drew an Ace and gained fantastic powers for good or evil.
And if you like GOT for the intense, graphic stuff, this series has that in spades*
*sorry, I had to
I'd club you, but I haven't got the heart for it.
At this point he should just feed the old books to an AI and have it write the next ones. Nobody will be able to tell the difference.
Hope to god this is a joke
Not the worst idea
Idk, that's only because Dan and Dave really fucked the dog with the show, and even then it's pretty close.
I gave up on him finishing the series years ago. I was super into the books, as they elaborated on so much that GoT had to leave out for practicalities sake. I agree with others that the world simply got too big. A final book in the series would likely not do enough to give the various plot lines justice and a sense of finality.
The show really needed another 2-3 seasons to flesh out the plot lines that were laid. The three eyed raven, the faceless men, the children of the forest, the white walkers…and we get bran as the new leader? Absurd. Dany becoming mad felt right, but everything else was wrapped up horribly. There’s so much more that the show could have been. But instead D&D got a Star Wars deal, that never panned out, and peaced out. A damn shame.
I had always thought that Martin had a proper plan for the series. But again as others have said here, perhaps this was the ending that he had in mind. If so, then damn.
I remember Martin bashing on Tolkien and the LoTR saga. He was giving him some credit but in a snobbish backhanded way while saying his work was so much better.
Tolkien finished what he started. He wrapped everything up beautifully.
Martin’s work is shit.
I think it's a similar ending he has in mind, but a better route.
I presume that the Targaryn who has taken Storm's End topples Cersei (who has to get killed by Jamie) and takes King's Landing, and having Dany go off at the new King who is less a villain helps sell the fall into madness which ends with Jon being a Queen Slayer.
Don't know how Bran gets there though, him waring someone and that person getting the throne could make sense.
I'm most miffed about not getting to see what happens with Stoneheart as well as Euron and other at sea Greyjoys.
I stand by the fact that even IF this was the ending he had in mind he would have been able to build to it better than the bullshit that D&D did with it. If the last season was drawn out over 3 seasons it would have made a lot more sense.
Still a crappy ending but it could have been better.
If there was any lesson learned from GoT TV show it was don't let the TV show finish before the books do.
Bran being king could be interesting if done right, the spirits take over his mind etc. Dany going mad could be done over a few series although I still think it's weak
This is going to go the way of the Wheel of Time series from Robert Jordan. He'll fuck around long enough that he ends up dead before finishing the book and his estate will bring in another writer to finish it.
You know who would be a great candidate for such an author? Patrick Rothfuss.
/s if it wasn't obvious
He's so bad at ending stories because he just run with them in all directions. "50 years later", "Everyone dies except X" and other machinations saves him in the middle, but there will never be an end to the books themselves, there just cannot be.
I think he doesn't want to deal with the people part and has already finished it with instructions to release it post mortem.
If I watched that last season and knew how much people hated it I wouldn't want to see what happens to the book in the wild, even if they're significantly different.
I remember working at borders like a decade ago or more, and when I first got there husband realized, "oh! The publisher has a system you can check to see when they plan on releasing a book, yeah? See when a dance with dragons is coming out!!!" So I did
We watched that date move over the course of a year. Then just disappear from the system. It was like two more years after that before it came out or more (time is my enemy)
It's never ending.
It’s coming as a PDF bundled with Silksong. Believe.
He's got "Concepts of a Plan."
Eoin Colfer is already salivating.
That dude's official Hitchhiker's sequel was not great.
I think the next book is mostly finished, and will release before he dies if he lasts a while or will be in a state where it can be finished easily by an outside writer. The last book will never be finished so if he has the ending written and some solid notes someone could write it but probably will just be unfinished.