It seems obvious he's "stuck" in some way, whether that's fear of his ending being unpopular or perhaps a lack of planning on how to get to his ending (or even how concrete that ending is) leaving him somewhat written into a corner. It could be that his ending was like the show, it could be that his ending was different, it could even be that his ending doesn't exist at all—he might have no idea how he wants to move forward. I have some trouble believing this rumor, though, because even if there were murmurings of unease that would mean he had to have a whole book written and submitted to the degree that this alleged industry insider could have heard about it before season six aired and then waffle on it for another three years before abandoning it after season eight. I know he's got a lot more leeway than most writers, but I imagine his publisher would have pushed him forward at some point if the completed book really did exist.

On a side note, I think the popular theory about Martin is that he's got a real downer ending because of all those comments he made about wanting to write a grimmer and grittier, more "realistic" fantasy story where there aren't as many real heroes, and they aren't as successful, and that now that he's seen how "subversions" like that are received, he's nervous. I think that's definitely possible. But another, funnier possibility is that he actually has a more traditionally upbeat ending where the characters he's set up as heroes (Jon, Bran, Arya, Daenerys, Tyrion) actually do end up doing heroic things and now he's afraid to disappoint people who expect him to be a cynic to the end. I mean, he did set up all these characters... he can't be totally blind to what he's doing, right?

It seems obvious he's "stuck" in some way, and whether that's fear of his ending being unpopular or perhaps a lack of planning on how to get to his ending (or even how concrete that ending is) leaving him somewhat written into a corner. It could be that his ending was like the show, it could be that his ending was different, it could even be that his ending doesn't exist at all—he might have no idea how he wants to move forward. I have some trouble believing this rumor, though, because even if there were murmurings of unease that would mean he had to have a whole book written and submitted to the degree that this alleged industry insider could have heard about it before season six aired and then waffle on it for another three years before abandoning it after season eight. I know he's got a lot more leeway than most writers, but I imagine his publisher would have pushed him forward at some point if the completed book really did exist.

On a side note, I think the popular theory about Martin is that he's got a real downer ending because of all those comments he made about wanting to write a grimmer and grittier, more "realistic" fantasy story where there aren't as many real heroes, and they aren't as successful, and that now that he's seen how "subversions" like that are received, he's nervous. I think that's definitely possible. But another, funnier possibility is that he actually has a more traditionally upbeat ending where the characters he's set up as heroes (Jon, Bran, Arya, Daenerys, Tyrion) actually do end up doing heroic things and now he's afraid to disappoint people who expect him to be a cynic to the end. I mean, he did set up all these characters... he can't be totally blind to what he's doing, right?