Earlier this week, George R.R. Martin’s editor Anne Groell admitted that she thought Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series might run for eight books instead of the currently contracted seven. And it looks like Martin kind of agrees with the sentiment: He’s trying to finish in seven books, but, well … famous last words, etc., etc. “My plan is to finish in seven,†Martin tells EW, “but my original plan was to finish in three.†And we all know how that worked out! Before crossing the heptalogy-or-octalogy bridge, though, Martin has another task at hand: “First I have to finish book six,†Martin says. “Get back to me when I’m half-way through book seven and then maybe I’ll tell you something more meaningful.†Behold, we are entering the great age of “who even knows how many ASOIAF books there will be?†It is a patience-testing era.