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This year marks the 30th year of the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire getting published, and George R. R. Martin continues to have an admirable grip on the fantasy genre today. Game of Thrones remains a landmark television series that has spawned multiple spin-offs for HBO, including House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. However, the long wait for the upcoming book, The Winds of Winter, has many fans openly wondering if Martin will manage to finish iconic fantasy series.

To those fans, I say this: learn to chill.

George R. R. Martin has given us enough creativity to last a lifetime, even without finishing A Song of Ice and Fire. Between multiple other series, graphic novels, television scripts, and even video games, the prolific author is always extremely busy. While you can complain that fans can complain that they’d like to see The Winds of Winter on shelves sooner rather than later, the simple truth is that George R. R. Martin doesn’t owe you a damn thing at this point. 

Yet, the belief that they are owed a new book in the series is easily the most toxic trait of the perpetually online faction of the A Song of Ice and Fire fandom. One fan at WonderCon 2025, for example, asked the author if he was willing to let another author finish the series because he isn’t “going to be around for much longer.” Ignoring the audacity of saying that to someone you presumably admire, it is something that clearly shook Martin at the time. A recent interview said that he “felt like he’d been slapped” at the time, something that was made even worse when he made the mistake of going online and seeing what other people said about the incident.

“They said, ‘He lied to us, he is going to die soon, look how old he is,’” Martin explained. “I don’t need that shit. Nobody needs that shit.”

And he’s right. Nobody needs that shit, not least of all someone who has already contributed as much to fantasy literature as George R. R. Martin. This is not an isolated incident; look at any social media post that Martin makes, and the first several comments will always be alleged fans demanding that he finish The Winds of Winter, as though shouting at a creative person has ever motivated them to be more creative.

Contrary to popular belief, authors don’t owe you anything. They don’t owe you more books. They don’t even owe you an ending. At the most, they owe you honesty, which Martin has always been. He’s working on the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire, and that seems like the truth. Believe me when I say that nothing is more frustrating for an author than not getting a project done fast enough. He doesn’t need to be taken to task by anyone for missing deadlines; I promise you, he is doing exactly that to himself without your help.

My honest hope for George R. R. Martin is that he lives the remainder of his life as he wants to. Write what he wants and when he wants. Find happiness, not stress, from the creative process. Find time to sit back and watch the sprawling franchise he created shape pop culture in new and profound ways. Of course, I want to see the end of A Song of Ice and Fire as much as the next fan, but I don’t think he should be guilted or hounded for working at his own pace.

More than anything, I hope George R. R. Martin locks all replies on every post he makes and protects his mental health from stubborn fans who don’t respect him or his boundaries.

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