George R.R. Martin, renowned author of the Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels, claimed in a blog post that he’s not dead.
“While it is strangely moving to realize that so many people around the world care so deeply about my life and death,” Martin wrote,” I have to go with Mark Twain and insist that the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
“It was Sir George Martin, of Beatles fame, who has passed away,” he added. “Not me.”
While Paste can confirm that the Beatles producer did indeed pass away this week, the substance of George R.R. Martin’s other claims, vis-a-vis the state of his current corporeal existence, could not be immediately corroborated.
Some fans greeted the author’s words with skepticism, saying that recent promises from Martin should be taken with a grain of salt.
“Winds of Winter was supposed to come out in 2013, or something,” said Shane Ryan, long-time fan of Martin’s work and the author of this post, in reference to the forthcoming ASOIAF novel. “Now we have no idea when it will be released, if ever. So why should we believe him when he says he’s not dead?”
Others have pointed out that Martin’s blog post looks exactly like what a dead person might write, if he wanted to convince others he wasn’t dead.
“Honestly, we can’t even trust him on whether his characters are dead,” said Ryan. “Jon Snow? Nobody has any clue. So pardon me if I’m a little hesitant to believe Martin about his own death. The guy has a history of muddying the waters on this issue.”
For now, the mystery continues. Paste made no attempt to reach out to George R.R. Martin for this story, and will assume that if he doesn’t reply within an hour or so, he’s probably dead.