It’s been a couple years since the “Game of Thrones” TV show’s storyline ran past the novel series. For years, it was assumed that George R.R. Martin’s series of novels would finish long before the TV show. However, as the HBO series enters its eighth and final season in 2019, Martin has released only one novel in his acclaimed fantasy series that inspired the show in the last seven years. And for perspective, that novel “A Dance with Dragons” was released mere months after “Game of Thrones” debuted in 2011. Sadly, it appears that the show has become a bit of an impediment for the author.
Never known as a speedy writer, as he normally takes several years between novels, Martin has been uncharacteristically slow with the upcoming novel “The Winds of Winter,” which is the sixth book in the ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ series that inspired the hit show. And in a new interview with the Guardian, it seems as if the pressure is beginning to become too much for the author.
He explains that regardless of the pressure, the fact that the ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ novels are so complex, compounds the problem. “I’ve been struggling with it for a few years,” he said. “’The Winds of Winter’ is not so much a novel as a dozen novels, each with a different protagonist, each having a different cast of supporting players, antagonists, allies and lovers around them, and all of these weaving together against the march of time in an extremely complex fashion. So it’s very, very challenging.”
However, even considering how difficult the novels are to write, one of the biggest roadblocks in Martin’s way seems to be the hugely popular show that he gave birth to. “The show has achieved such popularity around the world, the books have been so popular and so well reviewed, that every time I sit down I’m very conscious I have to do something great, and trying to do something great is a considerable weight to bear,” Martin said.
He continued, “On the other hand, once I really get rolling, I get into the world. The rest of the world vanishes, and I don’t care what I’m having for dinner, what movies are on, what my email says or who’s mad at me this week because ‘The Winds of Winter’ isn’t out – all that is gone and I’m just living in the world I’m writing about. But it’s sometimes hard to get to that almost trance state.”
As with many of his interviews, the author is hesitant to reveal a projected release date for “The Winds of Winter,” as every time he has done that historically, the deadlines have been missed. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that the HBO series that distracts him so much is going anywhere anytime soon. Even after “Game of Thrones” ends, Martin is already working with Jane Goldman on the upcoming prequel, rumored to be called “The Long Night.” So, if the author is looking for some “Game of Thrones”-free time ahead, he’ll be waiting a long, long time.
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