George R.R. Martin Has a Message For Anyone Who Thinks He Won’t Finish A Song of Ice and Fire: “F**k You”

For all the endless hand-wringing from Game of Thrones fans — and there’s plenty of it — the greatest common concern is that author George R.R. Martin won’t finish all of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Martin is 65 and he’s not known for his fitness; add to that Martin’s slowed writing pace and a seemingly endless string of publicity obligations for HBO, and it’s not too much of a stretch to understand why Thrones fanatics have some doubts.

Martin has mostly remained quiet on the subject, but in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger this week, he issued a Targaryen-worthy response: “I find that question pretty offensive, when people start speculating about my death and my health,” he said. “So f**k you to those people.” The author even added a middle finger for good measure.

The Song of Ice and Fire scribe is currently working on the sixth novel in the series, which is slated for seven books — though Martin’s editor hinted at the possibility of an eighth book last month.

Part of the trouble for Martin is that the author only works at home, not while traveling or on the road — two things that occupy a considerable amount of time, not to mention his occasional writing obligations for the show itself. Of course, Martin need not finish the books for the HBO show to move on (and the show has increasingly diverted from certain of the book’s plot points), but it’s unlikely that fans — those of either the book or the TV show — want to find out what Westeros is like without him.

[Tages-Anzeiger via Warming Glow]