[medford]

Haven't started season 2 yet, but I'm interested on what the long term prospects for this show are. Martin say's he's going to write 7 books in this series, but he went 5 years b/w books 3 & 4, and 6 years b/w books 4 & 5. Book 6 is said to be in the works, would (could?) HBO put the pressure on him to release 6 & 7 in a timely fashion so they can work towards 7 seasons of TV?

Season one: 2011
Season two: 2012
Season three: 2013
Season four: 2014 (book 6 released?)
Season five: 2015
Season six: 2016 (book 7 released?)
Season seven: 2017

That would force two years b/w books, perhaps 2.5 years if they pushed book 7's release close to the show's release. Of course that assumes the show remains popular enough to last 7 seasons (the books have remained popular). Would George RR Martin be willing to meet that time frame? Will he actually put a cap on the series, or will he attempt to carry it out as long as he lives?