If you’re a fan of George R.R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, and you’ve been keeping tabs on the status of the next installment Winds of Winter, then the title of this article will already make sense to you. If you’re not a fan and haven’t been keeping track, allow me to enlighten you of the current predicament Mr. Martin has found himself in.
Last year, George Martin promised on a post on his blog that if his next novel wasn’t completed by July 29th, 2020, the date of WorldCon 2020, which was to be hosted in New Zealand, he granted his fans permission to haul him off to a small cabin on White Island and keep him there in isolation until his book was completed.
In the aforementioned blog post, he said, “As for finishing my book . . . I fear that New Zealand would distract me entirely too much. Best leave me here in Westeros for the nonce. But I tell you this—if I don’t have The Winds Of Winter in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done. Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I’ll be fine.”
Despite this year’s WoldCon going virtual in an effort to fight against the spread of Covid-19, fans are still holding George Martin to his promise, barging him with tweets, all crying for his imprisonment.
Its time Georgie. https://t.co/l9ZctnDLh0 pic.twitter.com/uGeWukgrmq
— Jair Ventura Filho (@DagrakaUchiha) July 29, 2020
GRRM on July 30, 2020 https://t.co/p5P32FauuP pic.twitter.com/5IsaEzULyw
— (Phi)sica(lly)Sick (@TimWilly25) July 29, 2020
Time to pay the fucking piper George! https://t.co/Ve4LHIuE0C
— Brandon ‘Dump Truck’ Collins (@elosoblanco69) July 29, 2020
While a Lannister may always pay his debts, does a Martin? I highly doubt it. It seems pretty clear to me that he wasn’t serious when he made his ultimatum in the first place, nor do I believe that his fans seriously expect him to isolate himself on a volcanic island. Despite that, like I said in my previous article on the subject, the man must be under a tremendous amount of pressure, so let’s not get too upset with him, shall we?