Author George R. R. Martin’s struggle to finish the Game of Thrones book series is the stuff of legends right now. It’s been six years since the last book in the series came out, with The Winds of Winter still being written and the final book, A Dream of Springs not even started. Despite this precarious situation and his age not getting any younger, Martin took to his blog to assure and promise readers that he absolutely will finish the books.

“I know you want WINDS, and I am going to give it to you”, said the highly acclaimed author, before adding, “but I am delighted that you stayed with me for this one as well.” He’s of course referring to the debut of his novel Fire and Blood that accounts a complete history of the Targaryen family, the title being both the Targaryen family’s motto as well as the title of the Season 1 finale of Game of Thrones, HBO’s adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire s

Martin also provided readers some additional hope that while we will receive the end to the series, there’s the upcoming final season for Game of Thrones to look forward to, as well as a prequel series on The Long Night, a pilot for which has been ordered. Here’s the snippet in question:

I am back in my fortress of solitude, and back in Westeros. It won’t be tomorrow, and it won’t be next week, but you will get the end of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. Meanwhile, you have the final season of GAME OF THRONES coming, and the new show that is not yet officially called THE LONG NIGHT being cast, and a couple more shows still being scripted… and a few other cool things in the works as well.

George R. R. Martin writing on his blog

The author himself appeared to be frustrated and disappointed at being unable to finish The Winds of Winter. He poured out his frustration in a Q & A to Entertainment Weekly:

I know there are a lot of people out there who are very angry with me that Winds of Winter isn’t finished. And I’m mad about that myself. I wished I finished it four years ago. I wished it was finished now. But it’s not. And I’ve had dark nights of the soul where I’ve pounded my head against the keyboard and said, “God, will I ever finish this? The show is going further and further forward and I’m falling further and further behind. What the hell is happening here? I’ve got to do this. I just got the [Fire and Blood] copy and, holding it in my hand, it’s a beautiful book. The illustrations by Doug Wheatley are great. It’s been a long while since I had a new Westeros book and nobody knows that as well as I do. I know that just as much as the angriest of my hardcore fans. And I have continued to publish other things. It’s not like I’ve been on a seven-year vacation. I have Wild Cards books coming out every six months. But not like this, one that’s entirely my writing. So to finish a book that I’m proud of and excited by was emotionally a big lift for me.

George R. R. Martin to Entertainment Weekly

HBO’s adaptation of Game of Thrones faced a unique dilemma when the show caught up with the books at the pace of one season a year. Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss took over the show in an effort to adapt an existing novel but soon found themselves writing completely original material and narratives when they ran out of pages to borrow from. This led to the recent Season 7 receiving its fair share of criticism by coming across a bit too much like fan fiction, featuring gigantic time-jumps and lacking the characteristic banter that made the earlier seasons so memorable. In their defence, they were left hanging by Martin who, as he said, was supposed to finish the books around the time of the fourth or fifth season but couldn’t (or didn’t).

Regardless of whether we get the novel endings or not, Martin’s right in that we do have a lot of stuff to look forward to in the world of Westeros and Essos. The final Game of Thrones Season 8 airs in April 2019 and just got a riveting teaser that showcased the union of ice and fire symbolizing the epitome of Martin’s series. Meanwhile, the fact that at least one prequel show is in development should also come as great news since Martin’s backstories have always been as enticing as his current plots.

What do you make of George R. R. Martin’s promise? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.