Game of Thrones: Even George R.R. Martin Isn't Sure He'll Ever Finish A Song of Ice and Fire

While TV lovers toil away wondering howGame of Throneswill end, book fans are still hoping and praying the penultimate novel of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series will come out before their grandchildren are old and grey.

Martin's glacial writing pace has become a bit of a joke in pop-culture, especially since the TV series ran out of source material after Season 5. Martin published the first novel in 1996, and then he seemed to be moving at a steady clip for the second and third books, releasing them in 1999 and 2000, respectively. After that things went south. The fourth novel was released in 2005 while the fifth, A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011, the same year the series premiered. Since then? Nada. There are no release dates set for the final novels in the series, and it sounds like even Martin doesn't know when they'll be coming out -- or if they'll be coming out.

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"I started doing a trilogy called Game of Thrones," Martin told Variety in a recent interview at the premiere of the biographical film Tolkien. "Now my trilogy is seven books -- if I finish the last two."

If he finishes? IF?!

Martin is probably just being facetious -- you've got to love a guy who can indulge in a good self-deprecating joke -- but that doesn't mean you're not allowed to facepalm either. Considering the less-than-stellar reception fans have had to the post-book seasons of Game of Thrones, we can only hope that by the time someone reboots the show (because you just know that's coming), the final two books will at least have release dates.

Don't leave us hanging, George!

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