I haven’t watched a single episode of the Game of Thrones TV series, though I have little doubt it is as good as the shows millions of fans claim. Neither have I read a single one of George R. R. Martin’s books (formally called A Song of Ice and Fire) upon which the TV show was based but, again, I’m quite certain they are as good as the fans similarly claim (and many of them say the books are far better than the TV show).
Having said this, and being a cultural/book nerd, despite the fact that I’ve neither seen nor read any of the Game of Thrones stuff I’ve followed the ins and outs of the show and the delayed release of the final two books of the series.
If you’ve been living in a cave these past ten years or so: George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books -of which there are currently five released, are supposed to have two more before concluding.
The first book, A Game of Thrones, was released in 1996. Book two, A Clash of Kings, was released in 1998. Book three, A Storm of Swords, was released in 2000. Book four, A Feast of Crows, was released in 2005. The last released book (to date) is A Dance With Dragons, was released in 2011.
As you can see, the first three books were released two years apart each. With book four, it took Mr. Martin 5 years. With book five, 6 years.
If you’re keeping track of time here, 7 years have passed since the release of book 5 and, according to James Whitbrook over at i09.com, you shouldn’t expect book 6’s release this year:
So here’s the thing: The TV show has already gone farther along in the story than Mr. Martin has with his books. The show will, unless Mr. Martin is hiding the proverbial rabbit in his hat, conclude well before the final book (or perhaps the final two!) are released.
And there are those who wonder if the two last books will ever be released.
Here’s the thing (and I don’t mean to be grim here): Mr. Martin is currently 69 years old. That’s not ancient, by any means, but if we are to assume that Book 6 gets released, say, next year, that means it will have taken him 8 years to release it and, by that time, Mr. Martin will be in/around 70 years of age.
Again, this is assuming the book, which has been delayed quite a bit, will indeed be released next year. If it isn’t, well, add another year to the author’s age.
Now, if it takes him another 8 years to finish the last book (and that’s an optimistic estimate, considering each subsequent book has taken progressively longer to get done), Mr. Martin will be 78 years old when this book is released.
While it is certainly possible Mr. Martin will live to that age, one begins (again, getting grim here), to worry about his longevity and, subsequently, the possibility the series will get finished, at least in book form.
Though I haven’t read any of the books, as an author currently working on the conclusion to my own series, I’m intrigued -and I hope, if only for the series’ many fans!- to see if Mr. Martin gets the work done.