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Fire and blood. That could be the title of George RR Martin's latest post on his personal blog, in which he has addressed the thorny issue of 'The Winds of Winter' and where he has left a devastating paragraph.
In his entry, titled 'Howard meets Hercules', the author begins by talking about a new project that is beginning to take shape: an animated film based on Howard Waldrop's novel 'A dozen tough jobs', a version of the well-known myth of the 12 labors of Hercules set in the southern United States during the Great Depression. The writer gives some details about this feature film, but soon changes course and goes straight into the subject that his readers are eager to know about: the publication of the sixth book.
"I'm going to die soon anyway, because I'm very old"
"I know, I know. Some of you will be angry about this, as you are with everything I announce here that has nothing to do with 'Westeros' or 'The Winds of Winter,'" the American said, aware of how much is being said about him. "I will never finish 'Winds,' if I do, I will never finish 'A Dream of Spring.' If I do, it won't be any good," Martin continues, putting into his mouth many of the comments he has received for the delay in publishing the long-awaited sixth part of the saga.
"I should get another writer to replace me... I'm going to die soon anyway, because I'm very old. I lost all interest in 'A Song of Ice and Fire' decades ago. I don't care about writing anymore, I just sit around and spend my money," says the author with a high dose of sarcasm aimed at his critics.
"I care more than you can imagine"
"The thing is, I care about them," Martin said, referring to Westeros, Winds, the Starks, the Lannisters, the Targaryens, Tyrion and Asha, Dany and Daenerys, the dragons and direwolves, illustrious surnames and creatures, his universe that he still "cares about", as he himself wanted to stress: "I care about them all. More than you can imagine".
In this way, the author, who usually avoids the subject of 'The Winds of Winter', except when he really has to announce some news about it, has come under the spotlight of criticism and has responded to all of them with a statement in which he makes it clear that the publication of the sixth book remains a priority for him.