Displeased with the provisional title A Time for Wolves for the final volume, Martin ultimately announced A Dream of Spring as the title for the seventh book in 2006.[12] Martin is firm about ending the series with the seventh novel "until I decide not to be firm",[13] leaving open the possibility of an eighth book to finish the series.[34] With his stated goal to tell the story from beginning to end, he will not truncate the story to fit into an arbitrary number of volumes.[28] He knows the ending in broad strokes as well as the future of the main characters,[17] and will finish the series with bittersweet elements where not everyone will live happily ever after.[26] Martin hopes to write an ending similar to The Lord of the Rings that he felt gave the story a satisfying depth and resonance. On the other hand, Martin noted the challenge to avoid a situation like the finale of the TV series Lost, which left some fans disappointed by deviating too far from their own theories and desires.[34]