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In a recent interview with IGN, Brandon Sanderson said he would refuse any offers to continue George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series if the author dies before completing Winds of Winter (or the book after that).
Asked whether he would consider finishing the series, as he did with Wheel of Time, Sanderson said:
"Respectfully, I'm the wrong person to do this – and I think most fans of both of our works would agree. My entire career is, in a way, a response to A Song of Ice and Fire. Much as that series is a response to popular fiction of the 1990s, like Wheel of Time.
"If I were to say yes, I would do my best to write it exactly as fans want and expect, but I would not say yes – because there are much more natural fits out there, and if George decided to go that direction, he'd deserve someone who is as good a fit for his world as I was for Wheel of Time. That said, I don't think George wants to go that direction, so let's just support him in writing his books at the speed he's capable of going."
This tracks with what George R.R. Martin has said this year, stating that there's no plan for anyone else to step in. Instead, his Song of Ice and Fire series simply "won't be finished."
The 77 year old also recently acknowledged the lack of updates regarding the famous book series and described the year so far as having been "stressful, to say the least."
"So much has been happening, it's been overwhelming," Martin wrote in a post titled 'Better Late Than Never.' "Some great things, exciting things. Dreams coming true. But there have been nightmares too. I have lost friends. Battled sadness and depression. The worst may be yet to come."
"I turned 77 last September, and I tell you, getting old is no fun," Martin continued. "But there have been amazing times as well."
"George doesn't owe people books, as he cannot actually make that promise – none of us can."
When chatting to IGN, Sanderson also reflected on Martin's recent challenges with mental health: "I implore people, in this discussion, to remember the person."
"George R. R. Martin is one of the greats of our genre, and in my every interaction with him, he's treated me with kindness – even when I was a nobody. He truly is the great patriarch of the fantasy genre, and has done a great deal of work fostering new talent, helping the community, and offering advice and support when needed."
Sanderson followed up, saying: "At the same time, writing can be a lonely profession, and we all know the difficulty of a book that just WILL NOT work. I've been fortunate that books like that have always been side projects for me, ones I can abandon without it causing too many ripples in my career. The only thing that will lead to A Song of Ice and Fire being finished is our support, patience, and effort to remember what makes books special: the fact that they are one of the few mass media art forms that are still largely created by individual human beings."
Martin has also repeatedly suggested frustration over discussions of his health at convention panels, and said he was aware of the online speculation around his age and health. "They say, 'He lied to us, he is going to die soon, look how old he is.' I really didn’t need that shit,” he said, referring to the fan question. "Nobody needs that shit."
When discussing Martin, Sanderson continued to push back against the idea that authors "owe" their audience a finished saga: "George doesn't owe people books, as he cannot actually make that promise – none of us can."
"I can't promise the end of the Stormlight Archive, because who knows if I'll come down with a sickness tomorrow. I am literally incapable of making promises about the future in that way, the same as any person is. That said, I do think we, as authors, are making a contract with readers when we start a book series – and that contract implies a certain responsibility on our part. The promise to work on the project, to give it due attention, to try our best to get the books done in a timely way. However, this is an art.
"I am as guilty as anyone of, now and then, making light of the fact that we don't have a conclusion to Game of Thrones. However, I live in a glass house, as I have a book (The Rithmatist) that I've promised fans a sequel to for as long as people have been waiting for George's next volume. I feel terrible I haven't been able to deliver, but the artistic process can be a whimsical one."
Sanderson finished by saying: "Regardless, I don't know that George owes anyone books as much as he owes them real, dedicated effort in producing those books, which might seem like semantics, but I'm an author. That's the job. It's not, however, my job to determine if George has made that effort or not. My gut says that he has – and the fact that we're where we are indicates that this is one of those times when the rest of the world has to wrestle with a terrible fact we as authors face every day. That from the outside, this seems like a trade (like making cabinets) when in reality it's an art, much like making music… and sometimes, you lose that music. [Let's] just hope it's not forever."
Like all of Sanderson's ongoing projects, you can track progress directly on his website where he has percentage bars for everything he's working on right now, including the Mistborn screenplay, Songrise 4.0, Ghostbloods Book 1 Draft 2.0, and Riftwake Book 3.
You can read more of the big Brandon Sanderson interview here on IGN, where we've discussed last year's Wheel of Time cancellation, potential video game adaptations of his work, and progress on the Mistborn movie.
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