Fans of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels have long, long, long, awaited the planned sixth entry in the series, The Winds of Winter. But after more than a decade of delays, even Martin is acknowledging the possibility that it may never come to be.
Martin spoke about the book in a recent interview with THR, mostly focused on the four films he's self-financed based on the short stories of science-fiction writer Howard Waldrop. But, of course, the subject of The Winds of Winter — and how Martin is managing to balance that highly anticipated novel with his other pursuits — inevitably came up.
“Unfortunately, I am 13 years late,” he told the outlet. “Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ I don’t know, it happens a day at a time.”
“But that’s still a priority," he continued. "A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They’re saying] ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished.’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!”
It's only the latest in what's been an increasingly bleak wait for The Winds of Winter, with the most recent entry in the series, A Dance With Dragons, publishing in 2011. That's the same year that HBO premiered the insanely popular TV series Game of Thrones, which is based on the A Song of Ice and Fire series and drew a lot more eyes to the world of Westeros.
Martin made the reveal in November 2023 that he's written 1,100 pages of The Winds of Winter, which wouldn't be so disappointing if it weren't he same number of pages he had written a year prior. Before that, in 2022, he said he was "about three-quarters of the way done," and that the book would likely be more than 1,500 pages.
Most recently, this past September, Martin admitted that he hadn't made as much progress as he would've liked to, as his various TV shows "ate up" much of his time. It's also worth mentioning that The Winds of Winter isn't even set to be the final book in A Song of Ice and Fire. A seventh novel, A Dream of Spring, was set to close out the series, although many fans have all but given up hope for that. (Note: The THR article calls The Winds of Winter the "sixth and final book" in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but we're assuming that's just a mistake; Martin's never formally canceled A Dream of Spring publicly).
Still, in a glimmer of hope, Martin did note in the interview that he could never retire, as he's "not a golfer." So hey, there's that!
Even if we never get The Winds of Winter, there's plenty happening in Westeros on the TV side. House of the Dragon is still on track for four seasons, with the third expected to start production early next year. Another spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is set to arrive sometime in late 2025, and there's even been early talk of a Game of Thrones movie.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
