When will it be time for Game of Thrones fans to worry about the wind of winter?

Summary

• George R. R. Martin is 13 years behind schedule to finish The Winds of Winter, which has fans worried.
• The final two books in the series, including A Dream of Spring, may face significant publication delays.
• Martin's original plan was for a trilogy, but the series expanded, which may have affected the final decision of the story.

It is believed that George R. R. Martina will come in the winter Song of ice and flame saga, but it's been an awfully long 13 years since he released the last book, with fans worried that he'll never get around to writing the ending to the War of the Five Kings. Although Game of Thrones In 2019, the TV series received its own conclusion, and there is much more to tell in book form.

Martin outlined his plan to write seven books in Song of ice and flame series, with the last two entries Winds of winter and A dream about spring. The author has been open about his writing backlog Winds of winter. Although he has said he has no plans to retire, his advanced age and previous admissions have readers worried about the last two entries.

Where are the Winds of Winter?

Martin began to write Winds of winter no later than 2010, it is expected to start with A dance with dragonscool ending. Book Five ended with Daenerys fleeing troubled Meereen on Drogon's back, Jon Snow being slaughtered by his own men of the Night's Watch, and Varys revealing his plan to put Aegon Targaryen on the Iron Throne. ​​​​​​​Although the series is missing characters, things played out differently, these events roughly coincide with Season 5 of the HBO series.

Martin's original plan was to write Song of ice and flame as a trilogy, with single books Game of Thrones, A dance with dragonsand Winds of winter. This again emphasizes perceived importance Winds of winter and the story he will tell. It also meant that all the books were published earlier Game of Thrones even started broadcasting. However, 28 years have passed since the first book was published, and the end is still not in sight.

The fact that A dance with dragons has been working simultaneously since 2005 A feast for crows means that other dangling plot threads, such as Brienne of Tarth's fate at the hands of Lady Stoneheart and Arya Stark being blinded by the Faceless Men, remain unresolved. Martin teased fans by releasing 11 chapters Winds of winter over the years, with one where Theon is captured by Stannis Baratheon included A dance with dragons' paperback. He stopped releasing chapters in 2018 because he didn't want to give away any more.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Martin admitted that he was 13 years late winds of winter but does not know how it happened. Reiterating that the novel is a priority, he explained:

“It's still a priority. Many people are already writing me obituaries. [They’re saying] “Oh, he'll never finish.” Perhaps they are right. I don't know I'm alive now! I seem to be quite lively!”

This prompted more complaints from readers, who once again show how Winds of winter was not the priority he promised earlier. And also took time from writing the sixth book to pen Fire and bloodon which he worked House of the Dragonhelped dev Knight of the Seven Kingdomsand is working on a film based on the late Howard Waldrop Ugly chickens.

All of this goes hand in hand with FromSoftware's world-building Elden Ringto which some argue Winds of wintercost. Considering he had written four chapters by June 2010, it shows how slow progress has been over the past 14 years. The hopeful release dates of 2014 and 2016 are long gone, and Martin's critics will point to his infamous quote from February 2016 when he promised readers of his Not a Blog site:

“I don't write anything until I put Winds of Winter on. TV shows, film scripts, short stories, introductions, prefaces, nothing.”

He once told supporters they could jail him if he didn't finish by July 2020, but nearly four and a half years later, no sign of the mythical manuscript remains. Although Martin jokes about people thinking he might die early Winds of winter published, others look even further.

Game of Thrones fans are still dreaming of spring

When readers close the book Winds of winter, A dream about spring It is expected to be even more epic. Even if Winds of winter got a surprise release in 2025 when it took Martin that long to write A dream about springit will not be released until 2039. In addition to the fact that George R. R. With Martin now in his 90s, a huge number of fans will likely miss out on seeing how the story ends.

In an update on his website for 2022, Martin explained what the books will be moving away from Game of Thrones' controversial finale, which makes sense due to the absence of seemingly important characters like Victorion Greyjoy, Arianna Martell and John Conington:

“However, lately I've been noticing more and more that gardening is taking me further and further away from TV series. Yes, some of the things you saw on HBO in Game of Thrones you will also see in The Winds of Winter (though maybe not in quite the same way)…but a lot of the rest will be completely different.”

It's not a secret Game of Thrones' finale sparked controversy, with more than 1.5 million people signing a petition to redo Season 8. Winds of winterThe release is even more important as it will give critics their first taste of where things could be going.

As per Martin's original plan, the final book focused on the Others, who are the book version of the White Walkers. They were seen as a real threat to Westeros that the show failed to capitalize on. Season 8 was criticized by many and felt that it should have focused on Cersei and the battle for King's Landing in the first half before going into the epic battle with the White Walkers at Winterfell in the last few episodes. Martin hasn't revealed how he plans to end the books, but many expect The Others to be a de facto biggie. However, that doesn't mean Daenerys Targaryen won't get a Mad Queen arc.

Like both Winds of winter and A dream about spring will be longer than the previous books, this gives an idea of ​​how long they will be. There are theories that Martin was preparing something special and may have written it Winds of winter and A dream about spring at the same time. In his last blog post in July 2024, Martin cryptically warned:

When The Winds of Winter ends, no information will be leaked, there WILL be a big announcement…where and when I can't say.

Optimists hope that even if the last two books don't come out at the same time, Martin has secretly written the end of the story in case something happens to him. Meanwhile, disgruntled readers have taken to ChatGPT to create examples of how they think Martin will end this sordid saga. The man himself warns that fan favorites who died in Game of Thrones will live to fight another day, and some survivors will not make it A dream about springfinal pages, readers prepare for them Song of ice and flameThe latest footage is just as shocking as the HBO adaptation.