Really, that's his attitude? What a prick.
This appears to be a misquote, apparently from a conflating of Martin and Robert Jordan's old attitude (who in 1996 said he'd left orders to have his hard drive formatted five times and then smashed with a hammer if he died before WoT was finished, which obviously was an opinion he changed over the years).
What Martin has said is that there are no notes for ASoIaF another writer could work from. There's timelines, some worldbuilding notes, some unpublished maps and so on, but there's nothing someone could pick up and use to finish the series. He's also said, quite recently, that if he was similarly on the last book and was diagnosed with an illness with some years' warning, like Robert Jordan was, he would make some notes and consider allowing another writer to finish the series. If he falls under a bus tomorrow though, we're screwed. But the same is true of almost any other author writing a long-running series as well.
A Dance With Dragons
- 22/03/2011 11:43:01 PM
3002 Views
See, I disagree.
- 23/03/2011 01:05:59 AM
2092 Views
Also, I think we all know GRRM has more interest than just writing
- 23/03/2011 05:06:34 AM
2002 Views
...
- 23/03/2011 01:17:57 AM
1969 Views
Yeah but, come on, 6 years? And 5 years for the book before that? *NM*
- 23/03/2011 05:05:01 AM
917 Views
The way I see it ...
- 23/03/2011 03:59:35 AM
2015 Views
what this guy said. so true. not enough time in the day for all the cool stuff. i can wait
*NM*
- 23/03/2011 04:39:35 AM
1012 Views
*NM*
- 23/03/2011 04:39:35 AM
1012 Views
If people are upset with him, don't buy the book.
- 23/03/2011 07:52:02 AM
1873 Views
Re: If people are upset with him, don't buy the book.
- 23/03/2011 01:22:09 PM
1787 Views
Do you guys literally have nothing else to read?
- 24/03/2011 06:40:51 AM
1770 Views
do you realize how little time is spent on whining and bitching?
- 24/03/2011 10:06:16 AM
1806 Views
Re: Do you guys literally have nothing else to read?
- 24/03/2011 03:58:11 PM
1875 Views
No, that's not his attitude.
- 24/03/2011 11:53:55 PM
1784 Views
*complain*
- 23/03/2011 10:19:33 PM
1924 Views
*sigh*
- 24/03/2011 10:11:29 AM
2274 Views
Re: *sigh*
- 24/03/2011 01:56:51 PM
1943 Views
Well
- 24/03/2011 02:44:00 PM
1915 Views
Re: Well
- 25/03/2011 12:17:08 AM
1879 Views
apparently you cant read...
- 25/03/2011 12:37:51 AM
1908 Views
Seriously? You don't know how Jordan's illness manifested itself?
- 25/03/2011 02:19:23 AM
1986 Views
I'm glad you mentioned LotR
- 25/03/2011 03:21:46 AM
1836 Views
Can we please stop making baseless comparisons to Lord of the Rings? Thanks.
- 25/03/2011 06:22:50 AM
1837 Views
And can we try to strive for accuracy in what we are saying? Thanks.
- 25/03/2011 08:24:51 AM
1862 Views
Yeah, and im sure WWII, which his son was fighting in, wasn't a distraction at all
- 25/03/2011 01:09:22 PM
1846 Views
He still went to work, bucko.
- 25/03/2011 06:57:26 PM
1704 Views
Are you seriously that naive?
- 25/03/2011 01:07:39 PM
2040 Views
I think you're relying on math way too much to interpret the situation.
- 25/03/2011 08:48:32 PM
2180 Views
I don't care at all after so long a wait, but I do love watching the fanboys scramble to defend him. *NM*
- 24/03/2011 01:20:15 AM
990 Views
Your complaints would find more resonance if he hadn't announced a publication date yet.
- 24/03/2011 01:55:01 PM
1651 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons
- 24/03/2011 02:06:48 PM
1889 Views
Re: A Dance With Dragons
- 24/03/2011 03:08:27 PM
1784 Views
But Sanderson's book was a mess.
*NM*
- 24/03/2011 09:35:56 PM
906 Views
*NM*
- 24/03/2011 09:35:56 PM
906 Views
Was it really? Which one was this? *NM*
- 25/03/2011 03:40:58 AM
1000 Views
ToM. Still was better than what Jordan was writing, though.
- 25/03/2011 06:21:49 AM
1544 Views
Interesting.
- 27/03/2011 11:32:39 PM
1837 Views
I thought it was pretty damn good, personally. *NM*
- 25/03/2011 05:13:25 AM
1067 Views
I enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed any of Jordan's recent books.
- 25/03/2011 06:20:47 AM
1891 Views
This thread is becoming vaguely ridiculous.
- 25/03/2011 01:31:40 PM
1941 Views
I think about half of the responses are just from Malkierknight. *NM*
- 25/03/2011 05:11:18 PM
909 Views
These threads are always ridiculous. I'm both astounded & not at all surprised that there's another
- 25/03/2011 06:39:34 PM
1791 Views
Are you familiar with Minecraft?
- 25/03/2011 07:05:56 PM
1786 Views
It always astounds me that the developers at Valve aren't hanging from street lamps outside their HQ
- 25/03/2011 09:07:56 PM
1760 Views
Whoops.
- 26/03/2011 09:25:28 PM
1710 Views
I'd delete it for you to tidy up, but I think two posts by CNRedDragon is a good thing.
*NM*
- 27/03/2011 07:49:55 AM
888 Views
*NM*
- 27/03/2011 07:49:55 AM
888 Views
Jaysus, it's not like he's maliciously holding back the book on you
- 25/03/2011 03:46:00 PM
1798 Views
Re: Jaysus, it's not like he's maliciously holding back the book on you
- 25/03/2011 04:31:31 PM
2066 Views
Re: Your math up above
- 25/03/2011 04:45:23 PM
1746 Views
Re: Your math up above
- 26/03/2011 02:43:03 PM
1981 Views
That was gentle ribbing, not ad hom. Calm down.
- 26/03/2011 04:22:24 PM
1695 Views
Re: That was gentle ribbing, not ad hom. Calm down.
- 26/03/2011 05:09:19 PM
1952 Views
When you see people like Nate, Tash, or Rebekah, you don't have to worry.
- 26/03/2011 06:59:01 PM
1747 Views
- 26/03/2011 06:59:01 PM
1747 Views
I see that I need to work on my reputation.
- 28/03/2011 05:49:30 PM
1809 Views
Perhaps it is the same as one does not speak ill of fairies or elves.
- 28/03/2011 11:22:17 PM
1771 Views
A very wise man once informed people that George R. R. Martin is not their bitch.
- 26/03/2011 09:26:15 PM
1832 Views
He hasn't only been working on A Dance With Dreams. So Chill Already! *NM*
- 27/03/2011 04:26:17 PM
979 Views

*NM*