George R.R. Martin Gives Encouraging Update on 'The Winds of Winter'

In order for 2021 to be a success, George R.R. Martin has to finish The Winds of Winter. He doesn't even have to release it, just finish it. Though I have less faith in Martin's closing ability than I do David Benioff and D. B. Weiss' next projects, Martin's latest update is as encouraging as it has been in years. 

"I wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages of THE WINDS OF WINTER in 2020," Martin wrote on his blog. "The best year I've had on WOW since I began it. Why? I don't know. Maybe the isolation. Or maybe I just got on a roll. Sometimes I do get on a roll."

Wow, the best year since he began. For those losing track, he began the novel a decade ago. 

"I need to keep rolling, though," Martin goes on. "I still have hundreds of more pages to write to bring the novel to a satisfactory conclusion. That's what 2021 is for, I hope."

I, too, hope that is what 2021 is for, but I doubt it.

Game of Thrones fans are hoping that the upcoming prequel, House of the Dragon, and other rumored prequels can save the GoT brand. Those won't do it, though. In order to erase the negative reception the brand now carries, Martin has to right the wrongs of the TV show's final seasons in his books. The hard part is, that would mean Martin has to finish and release not just The Winds of Winter, but the planned final novel, A Dream of Spring, which is when we expect most of the crucial events of GoT's final season to take place. And while it's expected that A Dream of Spring will lead to similar outcomes as the show, such as Bran taking over as king and Daenerys dying amid going Mad Queen, Martin can build up to those events in a far better way than Benioff and Weiss did. (Or, at least, at a normal speed, unlike Benioff and Weiss' race to the finish.)

The future of Martin's creation is in his hands.

"I will make no predictions on when I will finish The Winds of Winter," Martin says. Fine, I wouldn't believe it anyway.