George RR Martin confirms that the sixth part of his famous “A Song of Ice and Fire” series will become his next priority after publishing Fire and Blood, a history of the fantasy universe he made up. In an interview with the Guardian, he also confesses that he has been struggling to finish it The Winds of Winter.
“I’ve been struggling with it for a few years. 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. Fire and Blood by contrast was very simple. Not that it’s easy – it still took me years to put together – but it is easier”, says Martin.
His books were bestsellers even before the HBO adaptation Game of Thrones in 2011, but the great success of the TV show increased his popularity by an enormous margin. The TV series won 47 Emmys and a Golden Globe over seven seasons so far. It overtook Martin’s progress in the book series in 2016, and the grand finale is expected next year. This has proved to be a burden to the writer.
“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. 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”, says 70-year old Martin.
He is already making plans about the work after The Winds of Winter.
“The Winds of Winter is next, then I’ll decide what comes after that – whether it’s to go on to A Dream of Spring, the last one, or whether I switch back into Fire and Blood II, do another Dunk and Egg story or two. But I’ll worry about that one thing at a time – that’s too far ahead.”
