All through our discussion of Charles Dickens dying in the middle of releases of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, I have been reminded of one specific contemporary example in which people are worried about this occurring. George R.R. Martin is 67 years old and is not exactly the image of a healthy individual. He has also created an extremely enthralling world and story that is not yet finished. There are several mysteries that have yet to be answered, two more novels to write, and he has taken longer and longer to finish each book. The first three books only took three years in between. The fourth book took five years, and the fifth book took six years. Fans of the series are worried that if he continues with this pace, that he will die before he has the chance to finish the series.
Many people ask him about this interviews, and he of course is upset that people are so worried he is going to die, but he has also assured that someone knows the plot in case he does die. Since Game of Thrones, also known as A Song of Ice and Fire, has been made into an extremely popular TV series that has now surpassed the book, George R.R. Martin told the show-runners how it is supposed to end. He did not reveal how to get there, but told them where it ends. This makes me think of Charles Dickens and speculations that he might have told the advertisers how it ends so they could craft advertisements for upcoming sections. I find it interesting to view possibilities of who might know what happened to Edwin Drood in the context of what George R.R. Martin is doing now. Charles Dickens made a lot of money off of his advertisers, just how Martin is making a lot of money off of the show. It appears that the people who get to know the secrets are those who fund the telling of the secrets.
Another parallel I have found are fan theories. Many scholars have speculated about how Edwin Drood might have ended, and many fans are already speculating how Game of Thrones might end. There are several websites devoted to fan theories for both of these mysteries. I have included two of those below. I wonder if people were speculating even before Dickens died for fear that he might die before finishing the series, just as they are with Martin? These two situations seem quite similar and looking at this contemporary example allows us to ask more questions while providing more insight into the situation as a whole.