Wild Theory Suggests Martin Finished Winds of Winter Already (But Isn't Releasing It)

But there is a theory that he’s already finished it, but just isn’t prepared to release it yet. This was discussed in a Reddit post that suggested why this might be the case.

'I have to assume,' one Redditor wrote, 'that he knows how much he f****d himself by just pinching off a book without an ending and without a plan for finishing the series.' Given the way that Game of Thrones dropped off in the later seasons, this seems plausible.

The Redditor went on to suggest that Martin, 'won't release [The Winds of Winter] unless and until he knows exactly what's going to happen in [A Dream of Spring].'

If he has finished TWOW but not yet completed ADOS, he’s likely to want to protect his story for the time being.

Another user surmised that the delay could be because the author simply knows the series will never be completed, saying, 'even if he releases [The Winds of Winter] tomorrow morning, you'd still have to assume…he's not going to spend a quarter of a century on a Dream of Spring because it's gotten that complex or he'll completely lose any interest in continuing,'

Of course, this theory goes against the original. If TWOW is written and he has no intention of moving on to ADOS, why not just release TWOW and keep us all in suspense about the future of ADOS. Especially as, judging by the length of time it’s taken so far to write TWOW, he’d be giving himself at least 10 years before anybody started to seriously question him about it.

This is not the first time such rumours have made the rounds. Similar stories began to circulate back in 2019 leading the author to write in a blog post that, 'THE WINDS OF WINTER and A DREAM OF SPRING are not finished. DREAM is not even begun; I am not going to start writing volume seven until I finish volume six.'

Pretty emphatic, hey?

Martin went on to say, 'It boggles me that anyone would believe this story, even for an instant,' asking, 'Why would I sit for years on completed novels?'

He also reminded us of one very obvious fact. The publishers 'make millions and millions of dollars every time a new Ice & Fire book comes out, as do I,' he said.

This is true. And there seems very little motivation for the publishers or HBO to ask him to hold back. Of course, those behind the wild theory will argue those institutions are being kept as much in the dark as fans.

So, we have to conclude that there is no real evidence or reason for these rumours – and that any new comment the author makes is likely to echo his blog post from 4 years ago and deny it.

Source: Reddit, Not a blog,