The Big Picture

• Despite the growing popularity of the Game of Thrones series and its spinoffs, fans are still waiting impatiently for the release of the next book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter.
• The story left off with several cliffhangers, including Jon Snow's death, Daenerys' encounter with a rival Dothraki clan, and the captured characters such as Tyrion, Arya, and Theon.
• Over the years, George R.R. Martin has released several chapters from The Winds of Winter, however, the release date remains uncertain, leaving fans eager and uncertain about the fate of the series.

Game of Thrones is adapted from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and after the show took off, the popularity of the books grew too. Now, the world includes a second show, House of the Dragon, more upcoming spinoff series, historical texts, and a series of short stories, but still, A Song of Ice and Fire remains unfinished. The next book in the series will be titled The Winds of Winter, but despite the 12 years since the previous book, A Dance with Dragons, was published, there is no release date. Fans have grown impatient for the next installment, looking closely at everything Martin says or does, hoping for clues about when The Winds of Winter will arrive on shelves, but still nothing.

Game of Thrones began four months before A Dance of Dragons was published and has long passed the content Martin released, even concluding before the author completed The Winds of Winter. While fans wait anxiously, news of the next book is scarce. Still, the question of when it will be released haunts the fans. With The Winds of Winter uncompleted and A Dream of Spring still to follow, the ultimate fate of the A Song of Ice and Fire books is as ambiguous as that of its characters.

Where Did 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Story Leave Off?

As the sixth book in the series, first, it will need to handle the cliffhangers left from A Dance of Dragons and A Feast for Crows, but with the show moving beyond the books, it's difficult to remember where the story ended. Books four and five run concurrently, so plenty of plots need continuing. Martin's story ends after the Night's Watch brothers mutiny against Jon Snow, leaving him dead. Daenerys, alone with Drogon, encounters a rival Dothraki clan, while her friends in Meereen are surrounded by enemies. In the Free Cities, Tyrion is captured by the disgraced Jorah Mormont.

Arya is still training with the Faceless Men, while a fake Arya and Theon escape Ramsay Bolton only to be captured by Stannis Baratheon and his army. Davos is sent to find Rickon Stark, Samwell Tarly searches for help in Oldtown, Sansa remains in disguise in the Vale, and the various Greyjoys fight for control of the Iron Islands. Brienne and Jaime Lannister are captured by Lady Stoneheart and the Brotherhood without Banners. The believed-dead prince Aegon has taken the Stormlands and hopes to recruit allies in Westeros, while his guardian, Jon Connington, succumbs to greyscale. Meanwhile, in Kings Landing, Cersei faces the Faith Militant after being publicly shamed, and Varys kills the Hand of the King, Kevan Lannister, and Grand Maester Pycelle.

What Do We Know About 'The Winds of Winter'?

Of course, the show dealt with many of these plots, so it may give some answers to what will happen in the book. Jon's resurrection or Tyrion joining Daenerys seem likely to happen, though there will be differences. Some plots were significantly changed or cut from the adaption, so their continuation will be a complete surprise. Sansa's presence in the Vale, Lady Stoneheart's existence, and the return of the mysterious Prince Aegon are all certain to change the plot from the last few seasons, though how is yet to be seen. Certainly, after the reaction to the Game of Thrones finale, fans hope the books will be different.

Over the years, George R.R. Martin has released 11 chapters from The Winds of Winter in various places. Likely very few, if any, are in their final form, as he stated that several have been rewritten and stopped releasing chapters in 2018 so as not to reveal too much. A Theon chapter was posted to Martin's website and later included in the back of A Dance with Dragons paperback. The chapter finds Theon Greyjoy captured by Stannis Baratheon, whose forces prepare to attack the Boltons. Unaware that the Arya he found is fake, he sends her to Jon at the Wall, though he plans to execute Theon for killing the Stark boys.

Martin read a Victarion Greyjoy chapter in the last 10 minutes of an interview, and a transcript was made from the reading. The chapter picks up just after the end of A Dance of Dragons as Victarion sails to Slavers Bay with thoughts of marrying Daenerys. On his boat, he and some of his men discuss the Valyrian dragon horn he stole from Euron. Martin has released two chapters narrated by Tyrion, but one was at a reading with no video or transcript, so not much is widely known about it. The other was included in the excerpts in a companion book. This shows Tyrion in the Second Sons camp as the battle in Slavers Bay begins. He reflects on his past as the sellswords decide whether they will turn on Daenerys.

Martin has posted two chapters from Arianne Martell's point of view. The first chapter is about Arianne's journey to see Aegon and Jon Connington in the Stormlands, though, like her father, she doubts their story and knows little about them. Arianne's next chapter continues the journey as the group arrives in the Stormlands to find Aegon and Connington away. She reflects on her father's different plots and worries that there has been no news of her brother. Two Barristan Selmy chapters have been released as well, but, like with Tyrion's, one was a reading that has no records. The other shows Barristan rallying the troops for the battle in Slaver's Bay. Without Daenerys' presence, his task is not easy, but he leads the army ahead. An Arya chapter can be found as well, though she is using the name Mercy as she's training with the Faceless Men. Mercy is a performer, but she is sent to accomplish a task for the Faceless Men, and she does not fail, killing the target before she misses her scene.

A chapter narrated by Sansa tells of her in the Vale, still pretending to be Littlefinger's bastard daughter. They organize a tourney, so she can meet Harry the Heir, who will inherit the Arryn's seat after young Robin dies, and whom Littlefinger intends Sansa to marry. Yet she is unimpressed with his behavior. The final chapter is called "The Forsaken" and is narrated by Aeron Greyjoy as he is a captive of his brother Euron. Aeron Damphair remembers his abduction after the Kingsmoot. He is moved by ship to a second dungeon, and Aeron continues to have visions, this time seeing Euron on the Iron Throne. Each of these chapters seems to be early in the book, as they deal with things already set up in A Dance with Dragons. While the book has no cohesive plot summary, the information that has been released gives hints, and Martin has promised that it will be a dark story as winter has finally come.

Which Characters Will Appear in 'The Winds of Winter'?

For years, Martin has said that The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring will both be longer than the previous books, and that's no surprise given the time it's taken to write them. He claimed that parts of the plot were originally intended for A Dance of Dragons, so the cliffhangers should be resolved early, and he said it would open with two battles, one in Slavers Bay and another in the ice. Martin also stated that this book would bring readers further north than before. The excerpts confirm those characters as narrators, and Martin said the book would also include point-of-views from Cersei, Jamie, Brienne, Bran, Jon Connington, and Aero Hotah.

He also confirmed appearances from Samwell Tarly and Asha Greyjoy, though didn't say if they would once again narrate. While no new characters will be given a viewpoint, Lady Stoneheart, Quaithe, Euron Greyjoy, and Rickon Stark are expected to appear. In 2014, Martin teased that Robb Stark's widow, Jeyne Westerling, will be in the prologue.

When Will 'Winds of Winter' Be Released?

In 2011, Martin expected to write the remaining books in the series quicker than the last, which took him six years. Yet he's had nearly double that amount of time, and the book isn't out. In 2013, Martin estimated that a quarter of the book was finished. If he kept that pace, the book would have been released years ago. Then he claimed it would be published before the sixth season of Game of Thrones, but that didn't happen either. Martin said if things went well, completion was months away in 2016, but things did not go well. Soon afterward, he paused other projects promising not to write anything until Winds of Winter was completed.

Again in 2017, Martin claimed it was the year, only for that to fall through. He published Fire & Blood in 2018, breaking his promise of working on nothing else. Martin wrote in 2019 that if he didn't have a copy of the book in hand at Worldcon New Zealand 2020, Air New Zealand had permission to imprison him until he finished, but the event was canceled due to COVID-19.

Since then, he has continued to say that he is working but has hesitated to make predictions. Once again, Martin was hopeful to finish in 2021, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. An update came in October 2022, when Martin estimated that he had written three-quarters of the book. But not all of Martin's updates are optimistic. During an event with fellow author Cassandra Clare, Martin responded to her next book's 2025 release date by saying, "The depressing thing is that still might beat Winds of Winter." In the same event, he acknowledged that he is 12 years late and assured fans that he didn't need reminders.

In December 2022, Martin appeared as a guest on Stephen Colbert's Tooning Out the News, where the animated host, Dr. Ike Bloom, roasted the procrastinating author, calling James Patterson to get advice for Martin's "writers constipation." During the conversation, Martin revealed he had completed 1,100 to 1,200 pages with only 400 or 500 left. This sounds like something approaching an end, but unfortunately, at that rate, he’s taking about 6 years to write 500 pages, putting the estimated completion somewhere around 2029. And that doesn’t include the process of editing, printing, and distributing. As of November 2023, Martin claims to have 1,100 pages of the book, which is the same number he gave a year before. While he could have been editing those pages for a year, it doesn't bring him closer to the end.

Fans can hope Martin gets sudden inspiration and writes faster, the reality is, the wait could last much longer. The Stark family's famous words, "Winter is coming," continue to be true, yet distant. Writing the epic story is no easy task, but it's gotten a little extreme. Despite all of his outdated promises, Martin hasn't been idle with short stories, histories, and TV shows, Martin has continued to work, and that's just the projects set in Westeros. This trend continues with his work on House of the Dragon Season 2, which will premiere June 16, 2024, long before Winds of Winter will be completed. Martin has been writing, producing, and working on just about everything except his much-anticipated novel. So the biggest question remains when — or if — we will see The Winds of Winter.

House of the Dragon Season 2 premieres on June 16. Season 1 is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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