It's no secret that people are desperate for George R. R. Martin to continue the Game of Thrones novels with the sixth installment The Winds of Winter. The author has been tinkering away at the book for over 15 years now, having written four chapters before HBO's hit adaptation even started airing in 2011 – but fans are still waiting on its completion.
With that, a reader took it upon themself to ask Martin for an update at Seattle WorldCon 2025, but their untactful directedness hasn't gone down well with the wider community.
As heard in a video posted to YouTube (via Screen Rant), the attendee asked whether another writer could potentially take over the series, since 76-year-old Martin is "not going to be around for much longer." They even suggested that Brandon Sanderson, another panelist, who famously penned follow-ups to Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time novels, could be a potential candidate for the job.
The question was booed in real time, with other guests coming to defend the Song of Ice and Fire scribe and the hosts quickly trying to move the conversation along. While some backed the attendee's inquisition, sympathetic fans over on Reddit condemned their "disrespectful" actions, describing the footage as "hard to watch".
Over on Twitter, people were even more explicit in their disdain, with one user claiming: "That disgusting f*** represents a good percentage of the 'readers' I know."
"Antagonizing an old man who has been dealing with mental health issues after losing a very close friend to him is absolutely insane," tweeted another. "We need to bring back throwing rocks at people."
Check out some more reactions below...
People are taking whole “finish the book” way too far, like sure we all want the books to finish but some ppl are being evil and hateful. Like i doubt any of them actually want the books but they’re hating on him just because.August 16, 2025
Disgusting behavior. Imagine thinking it’s okay to tell someone to their face that they’re going to die soon. GRRM doesn’t owe anyone anything!! Sometimes I feel really embarrassed to be part of this fandom, and this is one of those times. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?August 16, 2025
JFC. If I were in George’s shoes, I wouldn’t release the books even if they’re completed just to spite these entitled jerks. I can’t imagine dealing with decades of endless harassment from supposed “fans”August 17, 2025
Genuinely so disgusted that a person would actually say that to his face.August 16, 2025
Game of Thrones is streaming now on HBO Max. For more, check out our picks of the 100 best TV shows of all time. (Spoiler alert, GOT comes in at #6).
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