George R. R. Martin: 'The Winds of Winter is almost finished'

In the wake of the popularity of House of the Dragon, the focus has shifted once again to George R.R. Martin's eternal project, The Winds of Winter. The penultimate book that is meant to lead into A Dream of Spring, the seventh and final instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire. It's become a bit of a standing joke by now that George is no longer capable of tying up the story that made him a world star, but now The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the end is indeed in sight. At least for the sixth book, The Winds of Winter. This is what the author himself had to say.

"I think it's going to be a very big book [more than 1500 pages] and I think I'm about three-quarters of the way done. The characters all interweave and I'm actually finished with a couple of the characters, but not others. I have to finish all that weaving."

In other words, it's taken him ten years to get seventy-five percent done with the book, which in such cases should mean waiting another three years unless he picks up the pace. A tad depressing.

What do you think, will we see George finish the series on his own or will time catch up with the increasingly ageing man?