George R. R. Martin’s Editor Suggests ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’ May Extend To Eight Books

Anne Lesley Groell, who just so happens to be Executive Editor for Penguin Random House and who has worked with George R. R. Martin since ‘A Game of Thrones‘ was but a glint of a dollar sign in his publisher’s eye, was recently kind enough to do a Q&A with some random website on the internet. Fans of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire‘ will be particularly ecstatic in their pants to hear her answer on whether GRRM will be able to finish everything up in the promised seven books:

I begin to wonder—though 7 is what we currently have under contract. I remember when he called me, years and years back, to confess that his little trilogy was…well…no longer a trilogy. He predicted four books. I said Seven Books for Seven Kingdoms. Then he said five books. I said Seven Books for Seven Kingdoms. Then he went to six. I said… Well, you get it. Finally, we were on the same page. Seven Books for Seven Kingdoms. Good. Only, as I recently learned while editing THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE (another awesome thing you must buy when it comes out!), there are really technically eight kingdoms, all having to do with who has annexed what when Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros. So, maybe eight books for Seven Kingdoms would be okay. Also, he has promised me that, when he finally wraps this great beast us, I can publish the five page letter outlining the bare bones of the “trilogy.”

Otherwise, she didn’t give much away because, as she pointed out: “George has somehow managed to swear us all to this amazing conspiracy of silence, which I admire and appreciate and fully participate in!” She did, however, talk about how much she loves it when George murders main characters (“it adds so much more jeopardy to the story, knowing that absolutely no one is safe”) and that time she was pregnant when George and one of her other authors were late with work and “George proposed a race to delivery, and that whoever won could name the baby.” Classic George. 

When repeatedly asked about ‘The Winds of Winter’ à la:

Groell promised it would be out “reasonably soon.” And just to keep us throbbing for it, when asked how it compared to the other books in the series, she said:


It’s amazing. In fact, when I first read the partial back in 2013, I immediately wrote George an impassioned plea to please not let the show get out ahead of him. I can’t predict what will happen from here, but I definitely want his version to be my first version. And I think a lot of you want that, too. His vision started this; I very much ant (sic) his vision to end it, too.

You can find the rest of the Q&A HERE.