George R.R. Martin has announced a few changes in his schedule, hinting that The Winds of Winter may be nearing completion.
Writing on his “Not a Blog”-blog yesterday, the author apologized for canceling his scheduled appearance at November’s World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga. Ordinarily, this might not be major news, but the reasoning Martin provided has given fans a glimmer of hope.
“I have too much to do,” Martin writes. “Too many things on my plate. Son of Kong foremost amongst them.”
“Son of Kong,” as long-time fans of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series will know, is the author’s nickname for the sixth book in that series, The Winds of Winter. (Book 5, A Dance With Dragons, was dubbed “Kong” during Martin’s six-year writing process.) Martin’s dedication to The Winds of Winter precipitated an even more surprising announcement.
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“Also, I have decided against attending this year’s San Diego Comi-Con,” he adds. “Same reason.”
But, Martin writes at the bottom of his post, “Should I complete and deliver The Winds of Winter before these cons roll round, I reserve the right to change my mind.”
That addendum, however theoretical, is as close as Martin has come to suggesting that The Winds of Winter may be nearing completion. The author is notoriously – and understandably – close-mouthed on the progress of his wildly-popular work, and while there is no guarantee that “Son of Kong” will be completed by July or October, it’s still extremely heartening to see him acknowledge the possibility.
George R.R. Martin already lightened his schedule last year, when he opted out of writing an episode of Game of Thrones season 5. Stepping back from San Diego Comic-Con is also a significant decision, as he has been a major presence in promoting the HBO series for the past four years.
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Regardless of when the penultimate volume finally lands in his readers’ hungry hands, there is no question that Martin is as eager as the rest of us to finally announce that “Winter is Coming.”