George RR Martin, the 77-year-old author of the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series that inspired Game of Thrones, has spoken candidly about battling depression during what he described as a "stressful" and "overwhelming" year. In his first personal blog post in nearly six months, titled Better Late Than Never, he wrote of losing friends and struggling with sadness, while also warning that "the worst may be yet to come." His comments matter to fans not only as a personal disclosure but because they come amid ongoing speculation over the long-delayed sixth novel in his series.

Martin, who turns 78 in September, admitted his website posts since February had actually been written by assistants because he continued to fall behind despite their help, and reflected that "getting old is no fun". He also noted positives, including nine Emmy nominations for the HBO prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The much-awaited sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, has been in progress since 2011's A Dance with Dragons, with no publication date announced; in January he told the Hollywood Reporter he had completed around 1,100 manuscript pages and called leaving the series unfinished "a total failure".