Game of Thrones is coming to an end, however, George R.R. Martin wants to make something very clear: The recent rumors about the A Song of Ice and Fire series are not true and he is not done writing the final Game of Thrones books.
On Monday, claims about Martin wrapping up The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring hit the internet, after Ian McElhinney, the actor who played Ser Barristan Selmy on the show, reportedly said Martin has already completed Books 6 and 7 at Epic Con in Russia last month, Gizmodo reported. Of course, Martin fired back at these so-called claims in a statement on his blog, the Not A Blog, to set things straight.
“All of a sudden this crazy story about my finishing The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring years ago is popping up everywhere,” Martin wrote. “No, I am not going to provide links. I don’t want to reward purveyors of misinformation with hits. I will, however, say for the record — no, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are not finished.”
Martin further explained how he would never “sit for years on completed novels” and how his publishers wouldn’t consent to this type of behavior. He also noted how the books help create general interest in Game of Thrones, and vice versa.
“HBO did not ask me to delay them. Nor did David and Dan. There is no ‘deal’ to hold back on the books. I assure you, HBO and David and Dan would both have been thrilled and delighted if The Winds of Winter had been delivered and published four or five years ago… and NO ONE would have been more delighted than me,” Martin added. “I have said it before: don’t believe everything you read on the internet.”
It’s uncertain when the books will be completed, however, the last episode of Game of Thrones premieres on Sunday, May 19 at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.