Former Skyrim Lead Has Blunt Advice for George R.R. Martin: Just Walk Away

A former lead designer on Skyrim has sparked debate in fantasy circles with some unusually blunt advice for George R.R. Martin: stop trying to finish A Song of Ice and Fire and move on.

That advice comes from Bruce Nesmith, who spent years at Bethesda Game Studios and served as a lead designer on Skyrim. Nesmith left the games industry in 2021 and reinvented himself as a novelist, since publishing multiple fantasy books across two completed series.

In a recent interview with Press Box PR, Nesmith weighed in on Martin’s long-running struggle to finish his epic fantasy saga, A Song of Ice and Fire. His take was simple — and controversial.

“George gave his story to somebody else and they ran with it and they did an amazing job with it,” Nesmith said, referring to HBO’s TV adaptation, Game of Thrones. “I think he’d be wise to say they finished my work and now I want to do something new.”

For fans, that suggestion cuts deep.

Readers have been waiting nearly 15 years for The Winds of Winter, the long-promised next book in the series, which is supposed to be followed by a final novel, A Dream of Spring. Martin, now 77, has spoken openly in recent years about his difficulty finishing the books.

Meanwhile, HBO’s Game of Thrones ran for eight seasons and became a global phenomenon — before its final seasons drew fierce backlash. Many viewers blamed the show’s shaky ending on the fact that it ran out of Martin’s source material.

That history is exactly why many fans believe Martin should finish the books, not abandon them. For critics of the show’s ending, Martin’s unwritten finale represents a chance to “set the record straight” and deliver his original vision of how the story was meant to end.

Nesmith sees it differently. From his perspective as a writer who has actually completed his own series, finishing the work matters more than who finishes it.

“I don’t want to go down George’s path,” Nesmith said, joking that he’d happily let someone else wrap up his stories — especially if HBO came calling. He even name-checked Game of Thrones showrunner David Benioff as someone he’d trust with the job.

Whether Martin should follow that advice is another matter entirely. For now, fans continue to wait, hope, and argue — while The Winds of Winter remains unfinished, and one of fantasy’s greatest stories hangs in limbo.