An angry fan confronted Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin during WorldCon in Seattle, urging him to let another writer finish the book series. Everyone knows Martin has taken too long to finish The Winds of Winter, and Martin himself acknowledges it.
During a panel with Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Ryan Cahill, a supposed “fan” confronted Martin during the Q&A. The person demanded to know when he would hand The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring – the final book in A Song of Ice and Fire – to another author like Sanderson, adding cruelly that Martin was “probably going to die soon.”
Toxic Fans
The question drew boos from the audience and condemnation from the panelists, prompting the hosts to end the event early. The other authors rushed to defend Martin, while the hosts intervened and fellow panelists consoled him. Afterward, Martin left to sign books for appreciative fans.
Sanderson is the author of the Mistborn series, among other titles, and notably finished The Wheel Of Time books after original author Robert Jordan passed away in 2007.
The episode highlighted the toxic side of “stan” culture, where some fans act entitled to demand work on their terms.
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This fan makes a good point though.
“Dragons? Yes.”
George R.R. Martin has spoken often about the long-awaited book. In his most recent blog comments, he discussed how dragons will feature:
“I would have dragons, yes… but I wanted my dragons to be as real and believable as such a creature could ever be… and the why and how of that, and how it came to be, will eventually be revealed in more detail in The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring and some in Blood & Fire.”
He has also said the book will be his longest yet and confirmed he has completed more than 75%. During the Seattle panel, he admitted he had taken the weekend off from writing to attend.
