--- title: George R.R. Martin Says 2016 Was 'Too Much to Bear' description: "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin pleads for the wretched 2016 to come to an end in a new blog post. canonical: https://time.com/4618915/george-r-r-martin-celebrity-deaths-2016/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-28T16:38:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:45.757Z og:title: Even George R.R. Martin Thinks 2016 Was 'Too Much to Bear' og:description: “Please, let this wretched year come to an end" og:url: https://time.com/4618915/george-r-r-martin-celebrity-deaths-2016/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaeb60f70c92e936/69889bade20a87b7e5a91915/george-rr-martin-game-of-thrones-slot-machine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: HBO's "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 - San Francisco Premiere og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Even George R.R. Martin Thinks 2016 Was 'Too Much to Bear' twitter:description: “Please, let this wretched year come to an end" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaeb60f70c92e936/69889bade20a87b7e5a91915/george-rr-martin-game-of-thrones-slot-machine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Even George R.R. Martin Thinks 2016 Was 'Too Much to Bear' by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 28, 2016 4:38 PM UTC  George R.R. Martin attends HBO's "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 San Francisco Premiere at San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015 in San Francisco, California. George R.R. Martin attends HBO's "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 San Francisco Premiere at San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015 in San Francisco, California.Steve Jennings—WireImage by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 28, 2016 4:38 PM UTC George R.R. Martin agrees 2016 was an overwhelming year. “Death, death, and more death… this year just keeps getting worse and worse,” the [_Game of Thrones_ ](http://time.com/4606814/game-of-thrones-stars-hanging-out/?xid=homepage)scribe wrote on his [Live Journal blog](http://grrm.livejournal.com/514263.html) yesterday. He wasn’t giving a sneak peek of the new season of _Game of Thrones_ or of the action in the next installment of his _A_ _Song of Ice and Fire_ books—instead, he was bemoaning the loss of [Carrie Fisher](http://time.com/4618441/carrie-fisher-dead/?xid=homepage) and [Richard Adams](http://time.com/4618671/watership-down-shardik-author-richard-adams-dies/?xid=homepage), the author of _Watership Down_, who both passed away on Tuesday. In his post, Martin described [Fisher](http://time.com/4618848/carrie-fisher-star-wars-force-awakens/?xid=homepage) as “a bright, beautiful, talented actress, and a strong, witty, outspoken woman” and urged people to read Adams’s book, which he called “one of the three great fantasy novels of the twentieth century.” These recent deaths come at the tale end of a year that has cost the world [George Michael](http://time.com/4618347/frank-sinatra-george-michael-letter/?xid=homepage), David Bowie, Prince, Gene Wilder, Muhammad Ali, Leonard Cohen, and many [other beloved actors](http://time.com/4598032/milestones-2016/?xid=homepage), musicians and athletes. It’s all been too much for Martin, who wrote, “Please, let this wretched year come to an end.” That’s right, even the blood-thirsty mastermind behind the brutal Red Wedding—an author who has no qualms about killing off his most cherished characters—thinks 2016 is just too much to bear. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4618915/george-r-r-martin-celebrity-deaths-2016/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4618915/george-r-r-martin-celebrity-deaths-2016/"},"headline":"Even George R.R. 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