I'm a huge Wheel of Time fan. If you're not, or for those that aren't, Robert Jordan, the author, died before he could finish the series. He had some rough notes, a few important scenes written out, but the man was diagnosed with a terminal disease. Despite best efforts, he didn't make it to the finish line.

The last three books were written, with the blessing and cooperation of Jordan's widow and estate, by Brandon Sanderson.

Jordan's death was a huge blow to the story. We didn't know, really, what was going to happen. The story and world were epic, and we knew Jordan had a plan, and that there were "notes", but no one save a handful of people, knew more.

When Sanderson stepped in to finish the series, there was an obvious shift in how the story was written. He is, after all, a different author. But he did an absolute amazing job. If there's one thing Sanderson is good at it's the "Sanderlanche", where the last chunk of the book is full of insane, crazy, over-the-top exciting things happening one after another. It's no secret that the entire series is building up to "The Last Battle", and there is a (cough, 200-page-long) chapter in the last book titled "The Last Battle" and it is, I shit you not, non-stop action, revelation, emotion, and more happening in rapid fire.

Sanderson took the build-up from 14 books and slammed it all down at once in a "...holy shit" moment. He couldn't have done what he did (well, after reading Stormlight Archive so far.. maybe he could've) without Jordan laying the groundwork.

What I'm trying to say: If GRR Martin has built a world that works, even if he dies, they'll find someone to finish it and leave us with a complete story. And if we're lucky, it'll be someone like Sanderson.