The author - whose works inspired the Game of Thrones TV series - is still working on the sixth of seven planned books in the collection; The Winds of Winter. And in an interview with Russian publication Питерbook, helpfully translated by Reddit user kaldtdyrr, he admitted that he will stick to things like short stories once the sixth and seventh books are out in the open. Asked if he’d create something even bigger, he’s quoted as saying (roughly translated back from Russian): “Oh no, this thing nearly killed me and it's probably the most massive work that I'm capable of doing. “I hope to continue writing standalone novels, novellas and short stories, but nothing on this scale.”

At the Emmy Awards recently, George RR Martin had confirmed once again that The Winds of Winter is on its way - now seven years after its predecessor. “Going to set [of the TV show] is a lot of fun but there’s nothing for me to do there, so I thought I better stay home and not go to Croatia; or Spain; or Belfast, [Northern] Ireland. I still have two books to write,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m working on [The Winds of Winter], and I wish I'd been done four years ago. “But I'm slow and the book is very complex, although there are a lot of great distractions out there.”

George RR Martin is continuing work on The Winds of WInter

An interview he gave last year has finally surfaced

Speaking to Питерbook about the inspiration behind the whole thing, he said: “The Wars of the Roses, The Hundred Years' War, the Great Interregnum in Holy Roman Empire, the Crusades, and the history of Scotland in general, for it was extremely bloody. “I don't just borrow events from history and rename them, I think it would be fraud. Instead I like to take some real events, subvert them, twist them, interweave with other events, season them with fantasy elements and thus create something of my own.” Before The Winds of Winter, companion book Fire and Blood Vol 1 is due on shelves this November. Speaking to Publishers Weekly, he said: “I’ve cited as my inspiration Thomas B. Costain’s four-volume history of the Plantagenets — do you have to know anything about the Plantagenets to pick that up and read it? I don’t think so.

The author's works have legions of fans worldwide

Game of Thrones' final TV season airs in 2019