‘Game of Thrones’ Author George R.R. Martin Reveals ‘Winds of Winter’ Details and More

In a new interview with Adria’s News, George R.R. Martin has talked in detail about the future of the saga in books and the HBO tv show! The most interesting bits of the interview are about the next book in the ASOIAF saga, The Winds of Winter, as well as how he writes characters, works to subvert reader expectations and more. The entire interview is worth checking out, but you can read some snippets right here.

Martin speaks very openly about how far he has come writing Winds: “I’ve already written 400 pages of my sixth book and I really look forward to publishing it in 2014, but I am really bad for predictions.” He is aware of the fact that after the saga is done, he will be judged at the quality, not the speed of his writing so if we have to wait a little longer for perfection we can’t blame him for that!

He also talks about the seventh and final book in the saga, which he has chosen to name A Dream of Spring (after previously considering Time of Wolves). While he knows how he plans to finish the series, “I discover all that details while I am writing the book and that’s the reason why I go so slowly: because sometimes I have to go back to change certain things.”

That said, however, “I will write the two last books as good as I am capable of and I think the great majority of my readers would be happy with it,” Martin says.

On his decision to kill off important characters at various points in the saga, he says, “I want to state that everybody can die. Mine is not a predictable book like so many others, where you know the hero is safe. No matter how much trouble the hero gets in, what odds he seems to be facing; he’s gonna come through, cause he… he is John Carter, he is the hero. That’s not the way in real life and I want to be realistic in my books, so no one is safe in the books.”

Martin also reflects on why his series is called A Song of Ice and Fire, saying, “People say I was influenced by Robert Frost’s poem, and of course I was, I mean… Fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardor and all of these things. Ice is betrayal, ice is revenge, ice is… you know, that kind of cold inhumanity and all that stuff is being played out in the books.”

I urge all readers to check out the full interview with Martin over at Adria’s News. It is truly one of the best interviews with George R.R. Martin in a long while. You can read an excerpt of the The Winds of Winter at George R.R. Martin’s website.