Martin surely will finish what he started all those years ago, but when exactly he’ll finish is anybody’s guess.
Don’t be shocked if Song of Ice and Fire fans greet Martin’s “news” with a little roll of the eye, though.
Promises have been made before about Winds of Winter being near-completion and at this point fans probably are not allowing themselves to get very optimistic about any potential release date.
Of course there are devoted book readers who don’t care much about the HBO take and want to know what Martin will do with the saga he began.