George R.R. Martin, the celebrated author of the Song of Ice and Fire series, has been too busy writing the Winds of Winter, the long-awaited next entry in the epic series of fantasy novels, to find time to play Elden Ring. Martin had a hand in crafting the lore and backstory of FromSoftware's magnum opus, which is the presumptive Game of the Year for many, although we would wager God of War Ragnarok will give it a run for its money.
Martin made the comments during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and picked up by GamesRadar+, where he mentioned the matter, stating that "I have not played it, because people seem to want this Winds of Winter book."
The previous entry in A Song of Ice and Fire, A Dance with Dragons, was released back in 2011. Martin has since published supplementary titles in the series, as well as being involved with HBO's A Game of Thrones and the more recent House of Dragons. Still, fans have been clamouring for the next book for over a decade, as Martin knows all too well. Elsewhere in the interview, he mentions the book is about three-quarters complete.
Martin describes his history with video games, reflecting that "I have, unfortunately, a totally addictive personality. I did play video games a long, long time ago, I played games like Railroad Tycoon, Master of Orion, and Homeworld, and I would get sucked into them. Weeks and months would go by, and I'd be sitting there in my red flannel bathrobe just saying, 'one more game, one more game.' I can't, I gotta go cold turkey on this. This is gonna kill me here."
We can absolutely relate, George. Despite not having gotten around to playing it for himself, Martin was very pleased to see the game was received so well, gifting us all with the following image, which will live on long after we are all dust.
What do you think of Martin's comments regarding Elden Ring? When, oh when, do you think we will finally get our filthy paws on The Winds of Winter? Pray for a better resolution than the TV series managed in the comments section below.
[source youtube.com, via gamesradar.com]
Comments 18
He’s been saying that same thing for centuries. I have my doubts
And yet he released yet another book that wasn't the Winds of Winter just on Tuesday, an illustrated edition of Rise of the Dragon to tie in with the TV series. For someone constantly professing he is working on something he seems to put out a lot of other stuff, he's released 9 other books since the last ASOIAF book (A Dance with Dragons) ELEVEN years ago!
Honestly i've almost given up on this along with Doors of Stone (Kingkiller 3), more Ninjai and winning the lottery.
@Eagly I've had a suspicion he has been working on both the last two books so there perhaps isn't as long a wait between The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, but I expect i'm deluding myself, tying up many of those loose ends is going to be quite the challenge.
I would have believed the opposite - that he's too busy playing Elden Ring to write Winds of Winter, or otherwise that he's too busy consulting on a TV show or writing another book. Anything but actually writing Winds of Winter
@themightyant There is plenty stuff out there to discover that if/when these books do come out I'll get to them.
If you haven't already I highly recommend the Malazan series!
@MightyDemon82 Read them all, and many more besides. Love Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Robin Hobb, Usula Le Guin, David Eddings and many many non-fantasy authors too.
Completely agree there is plenty of stuff to enjoy, but waiting 10+ years for a story to continue is still a joke, whether that be these or Shenmue.
@themightyant that's a good list of authors, some I still need to get to. Mainly Sanderson.
I get your frustration, I'm just at the point now where I'll move on to other stuff and probably forget about certain series if they are stuck in limbo!
@MightyDemon82 Mistborn Trilogy by Sanderson is an absolute must.
And I loved The First Law by Abercrombie. There's something deliciously refreshing about Grimdark Fantasy; Dystopian, amoral and usually violent. The antithesis of many tired fantasy tropes like "boy gets magic sword/power and finds helpful father figure/wizard to overthrow evil and win the day." (I still like those, but also... snooze)
I've forgotten about many, but these ones stick specifically because they are so good! I did a re-read of all of ASOIAF a few years ago, after the TV series, assuming Winds of Winter must be out soon... how wrong I was. lol
Tree Sentinel is just not allowing him to advance in a game he contributed to.
@themightyant First Law (and anything by Abercrombie, really) is so good!
There was a time when I was hoping his books would be made into movies/TV series, but after watching the travesty that is The Wheel of Time, I changed my mind and I now hope they will stay literature only for the foreseeable future.
@themightyant I'll put it on the list.
Yes I absolutely loved characters like Logan Nine fingers and Glokta in the Abercrombie books. I'll get back into fantasy once I'm done with the culture series, Just 3 books to go!
I read them for the first time after seeing the show so it's not been too painful a wait for myself.
Feel like his role was close to nothing in Elden Ring. The idea of having him on board may have sounded exciting but it probably didn't happen in any significant way. Elden Ring is pure Miyazaki and crew.
@MightyDemon82 @Clankylad Both are brilliant characters, absolutely LOVED Glotka. Bayaz is a nice counterpoint to your typical Merlin/Gandalf/etc. wise father figure and far more believable that someone so powerful would actually be a power-hungry ego-maniac.
Didn't get on with The Heroes or Best Served Cold quite as much as The First Law, but need to get back to that world and read The Age of Madness Trilogy.
This dude's gonna croak before he finishes the saga.
Bet he wrote himself into corners and it's finding it hard to untangle the mess that the plot is atm, plus some of the "mysteries" that the series had were answered in the show and now he's in a "damned in if you, damned if you don't" spot.
Oh please does anyone still think he had much involvement in this game aside from marketing ploys and very minor lore ideas or even games for that matter.
I mean the game has little story just like all from soft games and pretends little slices of lore and fable make up for them using the same vague plot for every title they make. It's an open-ish world dark souls using an old engine and the same base story. It's good, but to call it a masterpiece is a huge stretch.
Just say you've got other things you'd rather do instead and leave it at that, man.
"I can't play even a bit of this one game because work takes up all my time" has never, ever been a true statement. People simply prioritize other side activities, which is totally fair enough. So just go with that instead of pretending you're living and breathing Winds of Winter your every waking hour.
@berte I agree 100%. Every time he's asked about it he looks clueless as to what Elden ring is. his name is attached to Elden ring and thats basically it most likely.
He's overhyped imo, I dropped Game of Thrones after watching the 1st three episodes.
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