While I doubt that every fantasy author in the world is well-acquainted with the work of every other fantasy writer who happens to create wild universes for readers to dive into, there are certainly some scribes who simply cannot be ignored. Two such acclaimed writers are George R.R. Martin and Andrzej Sapkowski, who have given fans the worlds that led to Game of Thrones and The Witcher. Each series has spawned franchises, and while Sapkowski recently threw some shade at Martin (for obvious reasons), he also decided to defend him.
What Did The Witcher’s Author Say About George R.R. Martin?
Die-hard fans of George R.R. Martin’s work likely have a few sticking points when it comes to the celebrated writer, but perhaps none is more obvious than the fact that Game of Thrones had to wrap up with a contentious finale six years ago…and the man still hasn’t finished A Song of Ice and Fire. Book six, The Winds of Winter was supposed to be finished 13 years ago as of 2025, and he also has plans for a seventh and final book that is (clearly) nowhere near completion.
Meanwhile, The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski completed the main books in his series by 1999, meaning that when that TV series (which you can watch with your Netflix subscription) ends after Season 5, they will have had his full work to pull from. When speaking at the Opole book festival (via Redanian Intelligence) recently, the writer headed off questions about whether or not he was going to add to his collection of stories about The Continent by saying:
If anyone in the audience asks that kind of question, I’ll tell you right now: I will write something else. Relax. No need to fear. And unlike George R. R. Martin, whom, by the way, I know personally, when I say I’ll write something, I will.
SHOTS. FIRED. Look, I love a spicy writer, and he just came right outta the gate with a slam for his fellow author, despite the fact that, apparently, no one had even mentioned Martin!
Of course, lots has been said and written about the incredibly extended delay that fans are seeing with TWOW. Many who’d been hoping to be able to finally read the end of ASOIAF as Martin intended it have given up on the idea of him ever completing it, and while there can certainly be some unnecessary toxicity regarding their disappointment, the basis of their feelings is pretty easy to understand.
Martin is working on several different projects to varying degrees at once (including helping out with the ever-expanding GOT TV universe, like the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is slated for the 2025 TV schedule), so he should be given some grace for that. But, even he’s admitted that TWOW is “a big mother of a book” which he now calls “the curse of my life.” Sapkowski continued his thoughts, and noted that he really does get why Martin seems to be having so much trouble with this one book:
And also, listen, just between us I totally understand him. Because if someone had pulled a stunt like that on me, filming a series based on my books, and then getting ahead of what I intended to write, I’d also be wondering whether there’s any point in writing anymore. If it’s already been done, right? Makes no sense. It’s nice when they adapt your work, that’s the author’s bloody right, but to adapt what doesn’t exist yet, to extrapolate like that? That’s just indecent.
“Indecent” it may be, but it happened, and now Martin has to figure out a way to make his own vision come to life, before the HBO drama is the final word on A Song Of Ice And Fire.
