George R.R. Martin Responds Brutally to Complaints About New Non-Winds of Winter Job (& He’s Right)

Author George R.R. Martin addressed his most brutal in a new blog post on Tuesday, and while he clearly rebuked them, he did not offer much of a rebuttal. The writer behind A Song of Ice and Fire was announcing a new animated feature film adaptation of a novel by his late friend Howard Waldrop. Martin will produce this new movie following several short films based on Waldrop’s work in recent years. In the middle of this announcement, Martin set aside a couple of paragraphs to predict the outpouring of hostility from commenters who want him to announce his next novel, The Winds of Winter. He assured them that he still cares about his magnum opus, but did not offer any update on the delay.

“I know, I know. Some of you will just be pissed off by this, as you are by everything I announce here that is not about Westeros or THE WINDS OF WINTER,” Martin wrote in the blog post. He went on to paraphrase some of the brutal commentary he has seen online — “You have given up on me, or on the book. I will never finish WINDS. If I do, I will never finish A DREAM OF SPRING. If I do, it won’t be any good. I ought to get some other writer to pinch hit for me… I am going to die soon anyway, because I am so old.”

Relentlessly, Martin went on with other commentary that has become increasingly common among ASoIaF fans online. “I lost all interest in A Song of Ice and Fire decades ago,” he paraphrased. “I don’t give a s— about writing any longer, I just sit around and spend my money. I edit the Wild Cards books too, but you hate Wild Cards. You may hate everything else I have ever written, the Hugo-winners and Hugo-losers… You don’t care about anything but WINDS OF WINTER. You’ve told me so often enough.”

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“Thing is, I do care about them,” Martin went on. “And I care about Westeros and WINDS as well. The Starks and Lannisters and Targaryens, Tyrion and Asha, Dany and Daenerys, the dragons and the direwolves, I care about them all. More than you can ever imagine.”

Martin had nothing else to say on the topic beyond acknowledging the critiques he has glimpsed online, or perhaps seen in messages directed at him. For years, fans’ reactions to the ongoing delay of his book have cycled between impatience and sympathy. Many felt for the author when he had to try and write his novel under the pressure of a blockbuster TV show, but now the series is over and Martin continues to take on other projects, many are becoming frustrated again.

For Martin, this new movie, A Dozen Tough Jobs, is likely just as personal as The Winds of Winter. He has described in previous blog posts, and in his book Dreamsongs, his long friendship with Waldrop. The two met as children through science fiction fan zines, and corresponded for the rest of their lives. Waldrop passed away in January of 2024, and Martin has written about how shaken he was by the loss. Adapting Waldrop’s work for the screen is partially a way of honoring his friend.

Last we heard from Martin, The Winds of Winter was approximately 75% done in 2023, with no release date in sight. The author has always maintained his intention of finishing A Song of Ice and Fire with two more books, but in recent years he has acknowledged that other work is just as important to him. For now, fans can find Martin’s incomplete series in print, digital, and audiobook formats.