When Should Game Of Thrones Fans Start To Worry About The Winds Of Winter Release Date?

Overview of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire

George R.R. Martin is currently 13 years overdue on completing The Winds of Winter, raising concerns among his fanbase.
Significant delays may also impact the publication of A Dream of Spring, the series’ concluding volume.
Initially conceived as a trilogy, the series has expanded, altering the trajectory of the narrative’s resolution.

Winter is meant to arrive in George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series; however, it has now been an agonizing 13 years since the last book was published. Fans express growing anxiety over the prospect that the resolution to the War of the Five Kings may never be unveiled in print. Despite the televised adaptation, Game of Thrones, concluding with its own finale in 2019, the book series still holds vast untold stories that fans eagerly await.

Martin had originally envisioned crafting a seven-volume saga, with The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring as the final two installments. He has candidly acknowledged his significant delay in completing The Winds of Winter. Although he insists he is not planning to retire, his advancing age combined with previous comments has stirred apprehensions regarding the release of these concluding volumes.

The Current Status of The Winds of Winter

George R. R. Martin Game of Thrones Winds of Winter

Martin commenced work on The Winds of Winter as early as 2010, intending for it to continue from the climactic cliffhanger of A Dance with Dragons. The fifth book culminated with events such as Daenerys’ escape from a precarious Meereen and Jon Snow’s betrayal by his Night’s Watch brothers. Although the HBO adaptation altered many events and characters, the storyline loosely aligns with the show’s fifth season.

Initially, Martin’s plan was to develop A Song of Ice and Fire into a trilogy, consisting of just three books: A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons, and The Winds of Winter. This ambition underscores the critical nature of The Winds of Winter in the overall narrative. However, 28 years have passed since the first publication, and readers are still left hanging without resolution.

Compounding frustrations, A Dance with Dragons runs parallel with events from 2005’s A Feast for Crows, leaving additional unresolved plot lines such as Brienne of Tarth’s fate and Arya Stark’s odyssey of blindness at the hands of the Faceless Men. Over the years, Martin has tantalized fans by releasing 11 chapters from The Winds of Winter — one of which appears in A Dance with Dragons’ paperback edition — before halting chapter releases in 2018 to guard further revelations.

In a candid interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Martin acknowledges a 13-year delay on The Winds of Winter, revealing uncertainty regarding how this situation arose. He reiterated that completing the novel remains a top priority:

This admission has rekindled frustration among fans, many of whom point to Martin’s side projects that have diverted his focus away from The Winds of Winter. He has dedicated time to projects like Fire & Blood, contributed to the development of House of the Dragon, and is also working on a film adaptation of Howard Waldrop’s The Ugly Chickens.

Moreover, he has engaged in worldbuilding for FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, with some attributing the delay of The Winds of Winter to these undertakings. Initially, four chapters were completed by June 2010, but progress has waned significantly over the past 14 years. Anticipated release dates of 2014 and 2016 have long passed, and fans frequently refer to Martin’s infamous declaration from February 2016 on his Not a Blog site:

“I am not writing anything until I deliver Winds of Winter. Teleplays, screenplays, short stories, introductions, forewords, nothing.”

There are echoes of his previous assertion that readers could confine him if he failed to deliver by July 2020. Yet, almost four and a half years later, the long-anticipated manuscript remains elusive. While Martin often jokes about the possibility of not finishing the work before his time is up, this has only heightened anticipation for the final resolution among his readers.

Hopes for A Dream of Spring

Maegor was the third Targaryen king on the Iron Throne

Completion of The Winds of Winter is expected to pave the way for A Dream of Spring, projected to offer an even grander narrative. If The Winds of Winter were to surprise readers with a release in 2025, considering Martin’s writing pace, A Dream of Spring might not debut until 2039. This timeline indicates that many devoted fans may not witness the saga’s conclusion.

In a 2022 blog update, Martin offered insights into how the narrative trajectory for these books will diverge from Game of Thrones’ contentious finale. He suggested that the absence of key characters, such as Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, and Jon Connington, contributes to significant deviations:

“What I have noticed more and more of late, however, is my gardening is taking me further and further away from the television 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 ways)… but much of the rest will be quite different.”

The divisive nature of Game of Thrones’ ending sparked widespread outcry, with over 1.5 million individuals signing petitions to recreate the eighth season. Consequently, the forthcoming release of The Winds of Winter holds heightened significance, as it will furnish readers with a more authentic representation of where Martin wishes to steer the narrative.

In his initial outline, the concluding book was expected to focus significantly on the Others, the reincarnation of the White Walkers in the novels, portrayed as a primary menace to Westeros, a perspective largely overlooked by the television series. Many fans lamented the show’s final season, believing it should have prioritized Cersei’s narrative in the earlier episodes before culminating in an epic struggle against the White Walkers. While Martin has refrained from disclosing exactly how he plans to conclude the series, speculation suggests that the Others may play a central antagonistic role, though Daenerys Targaryen’s descent into madness remains a possibility.

As Martin’s forthcoming The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring are anticipated to be more extensive than prior entries, this raises questions about their eventual length. There are circulating theories that Martin is crafting a stunning culmination by simultaneously working on both volumes. In a July 2024 post on his blog, he cryptically hinted:

When The Winds of Winter is finalized, there will be a substantial announcement… However, the specifics on timing and location remain undisclosed.

Optimistically, fans hope that regardless of the separate release dates for the concluding volumes, Martin is keeping a safeguard on the series’ finale. Meanwhile, disenchanted readers are resorting to tools like ChatGPT to imagine alternative endings for the compelling narrative. Amid speculation, Martin has indicated that beloved characters who perished in the Game of Thrones adaptation may survive in the books, while others may face an untimely end before the pages of A Dream of Spring are turned. These revelations prepare readers for an equally shocking conclusion as witnessed in HBO’s rendition.

Source & Images