That is true, but your legacy can go either way, Mr. Martin.

The George Martin phenomenon will likely be studied in the future. An author who’d been writing huge books for decades seemingly gave up on his main franchise after getting a deal with HBO and earning a hefty sum from that. The last A Song of Ice and Fire book was released a dozen years ago, but the next one is nowhere in sight.

GRRM’s official position on this topic is, “I’m writing, guys, I really am!” But among the many possible reasons for such a (ahem) delay, here’s the one that arguably bothers the iconic author the most: his legacy that will be sealed with this series.

George Martin Has Been Slacking for Ages

There is a generation of kids who were born after George Martin released his latest A Song of Ice and Fire book. They have read it (we blame poor parenting) and are now chanting “Finish the damn book, George!” on Reddit together with older fans.

There is a massive eight-season-long TV show based on A Song of Ice and Fire that started, lasted, and ended in the time span between the latest book and today. It has already spawned a prequel and has a few spin-offs actively in the works.

And all this time, somewhere out there is George Martin: the man whose every public appearance and blog post creates righteous fury among his fans. Throughout the past decade, he’s been working on a plethora of different projects, including — according to him — the notorious Winds of Winter, the next ASoIaF novel.

But, as GRRM claims, one thought bothers him: that whatever he writes in that particular book will determine his legacy. And the author doesn’t want to ruin it all.

George Martin Is Worried About His Legacy

If you still have it in you to believe GRRM’s words, then here’s his stance. He wants to finish the series, but the sheer weight of people’s judgment is looming over him. Before Game of Thrones, he had a fraction of the audience he has now, and all those millions of fans apply tremendous pressure to the legacy-keen author.

“Not only do I have to finish the books, but I have to finish the books strong, in a way that people like. That’s ultimately what’s gonna determine the legacy. If I can finish the books strong, then I think they’ll stand for themselves… You never know what’s gonna live on. Ultimately, posterity is the thing that judges an author’s legacy,” George Martin shared on the Game of Owns podcast.

Caring about your legacy is understandable, truly. We can’t put any blame on the author for wanting to finish the ASoIaF series strong and make fans happy. But his legacy can go either way, and currently, it’s strongly leaning toward George Martin being forever remembered as the guy who ultimately quit writing his best series after he received a great paycheck for it.