While ‘Game of Thrones‘ fans are gearing up for the final episode of the series this Sunday, fans of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels have been dying to read the last two books for years. It was recently revealed that the actor Ian McElhinney who played Ser Barristan Selmy for the first five seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ has opened up to the fact that George R.R. Martin has actually completed these last two novels. In fact, they only haven’t been released due to HBO demanding that they stay out of print until the series comes to an end!
Here is exactly what the actor shared:
“George has already written Books 6 and 7, and as far as he’s concerned there only are seven books. But he struck an agreement with David and Dan, the showrunners on the series, that he would not publish the final two books until the series has completed. So if all goes well, in another month or two, we might get Books 6 and 7, and I’m intrigued to know how Barristan, for instance, ends up going through those final two books. George, I talked to him during Season 1, and he did say to me that Barristan had a very interesting journey. But unfortunately I didn’t get to play all of that, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
RELATED: George R.R. Martin Stresses That When It Comes To ‘Winds Of Winter’ He Will “Give It To You” When It’s Ready
Now, it doesn’t quite make sense as to why the last two books would have been withheld until the series came to a close. Common sense dictates that they’d all be making more money if even one of them could have been published during the show’s run. George R.R. Martin himself was annoyed with this rumor and was quick to jump online and set the record straight:
“No, THE WINDS OF WINTER and A DREAM OF SPRING are not finished. DREAM is not even begun; I am not going to start writing volume seven until I finish volume six. It seems absurd to me that I need to state this. The world is round, the Earth revolves around the sun, water is wet… do I need to say that too? It boggles me that anyone would believe this story, even for an instant. It makes not a whit of sense. Why would I sit for years on completed novels? Why would my publishers — not just here in the US, but all around the world — ever consent to this? They make millions and millions of dollars every time a new Ice & Fire book comes out, as do I. Delaying makes no sense. Why would HBO want the books delayed? The books help create interest in the show, just as the show creates interest in the books. So… no, the books are not done. HBO did not ask me to delay them. Nor did David & Dan. There is no ‘deal’ to hold back on the books. I assure you, HBO and David & Dan would both have been thrilled and delighted if THE WINDS OF WINTER had been delivered and published four or five years ago… and NO ONE would have been more delighted than me.”
I’m pretty sure we can all agree with Martin on this one that there is no logical reason why a deal that McElhinney hinted at above would have been struck. It just feels strange that the actor would even claim that it existed.
Do you believe that there is a conspiracy to keep the last two “A Song of Ice and Fire” books out of print? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Sources: Collider, Entertainment Weekly
