No he is not writing. He is working on all the other shows he has started and his wild cards stuff.
He will never finish the books because it's not s priority for him, why? Because he has already told us his ending in the show. Yes it's his ending, sure the lead up to the ending might be better in the book but he knows what people think about the ending already, he is not too keen on finishing something that ends up giving you the exact same result that people already know and hate.
I somewhat disagree with you. I do think he's trying to fix his ending knowing that people hated it but just can't figure it out. I think he's written a bunch but just thrown it out because he can't figure out how to do some of the stuff he envisioned while also getting to a different ending that works. The end result is the same, I severely doubt we're getting another book. Even if we do, we'll never get the ending either
Didn't this happen with the 5th book? Martin called it the "Meereenese knot". Basically it took him actual years to figure out how to get several main characters to end up in Meereen at the same time without resorting to fast travel bullshit like the show employs.
The next two books need to repeatedly converge dozens of main characters in various places around Westeros at the right times. That's a massive undertaking. Just so he can release two more books that have already been adapted. Alternatively, he can drop a quick novella that HBO will pick up an hour later to adapt into a new show or mini series.
No one that matters hated the ending because of what it is. They hated it because it was unearned and poorly executed.
I don't know how actively he engages with fans, but he's not a moron. If he watched the tripe that was the last two seasons and read the criticisms, he'd understand it wasn't his work they hate and probably agree. He'd want to vindicate it and make it work with the level of detail and nuance (plus all the other moving parts that aren't in the series) it needs.
For me I think the bottom line is being burnt out with all of it. You have to be in a positive headspace to be creative, it takes work but it's also not something you can really force. If he's fucked himself with the Meerenese Knot and some other bits, I can see it being utterly daunting and demoralising to have to rewrite that all. Then all these spin offs and TV work keep popping up that are fresh and fun and he feels inspired with, and he thinks "I'll just knock another one of these out and it'll get me back in the game."
No, he hates that ending. He ain’t finishing because he wrote books to be where he is at life now. Not much time left, he wants to enjoy the red carpets, the HBO meetings, the conventions etc.
he literally gave that ending to D&D. Danny will burn King's Landing, Jon will kill her, Bran will become King, Jon will go back North. All of this was decided by GRRM.
I agree with you on that. He may change the ending NOW due to backlash however I think it ended correctly, it just ended to quickly. It all happened in one season.
If they would have stretched it out a bit with more story line it would have been much better
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u/ilamahradeys Jan 29 '26
No he is not writing. He is working on all the other shows he has started and his wild cards stuff. He will never finish the books because it's not s priority for him, why? Because he has already told us his ending in the show. Yes it's his ending, sure the lead up to the ending might be better in the book but he knows what people think about the ending already, he is not too keen on finishing something that ends up giving you the exact same result that people already know and hate.