Winds of Winter: New Game of Thrones Updates

A Song of Ice and Fire Box Set

Contains the complete set of 5 books.

$85.00 save 46% $46.00 at Amazon

Winds of Winter Release Date

No official release date has been announced for The Winds of Winter.

Originally aiming for completion by October 2015 to coincide with Game of Thrones Season 6, Martin repeatedly missed his self-imposed deadlines. By November 2023, he revealed approximately 1,100 pages were complete, though progress appears to have stalled since then. In a December 2024 interview, Martin openly questioned whether he'd live to finish the novel.

Winds of Winter Length

Projected to be roughly 1,500 pages, potentially making it the longest installment in the series. With about 1,100 pages written as of late 2023, Martin still had "hundreds more to go." The final two books are expected to exceed 3,000 pages combined.

Winds of Winter Story

The narrative will pick up immediately after the cliffhangers from A Dance with Dragons, featuring two major battles: one at Winterfell between Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton's forces, and another at Meereen involving Daenerys Targaryen's confrontation with the slavers of Yunkai.

Key developments include:

• Daenerys and Tyrion's paths converging (though mostly remaining separate)
• Significant Dothraki involvement
• Major events unfolding at The Wall
• The introduction of Martin's unique take on unicorns
• An overall darker tone reflecting the coming winter

Winds of Winter Characters

Confirmed point-of-view characters include fan favorites like Tyrion, Cersei, and the Stark siblings, plus several Greyjoys and minor characters not featured prominently in the HBO adaptation. While not officially confirmed, Daenerys is almost certain to remain a POV character.

The prologue will feature Robb Stark's wife Jeyne Westerling, though it's unclear if she'll serve as the viewpoint character.

Winds of Winter: Book vs. TV Show

Martin has emphasized significant divergences between his novels and the television adaptation, including:

• Different fates for characters who died/survived in the show
• Major book characters absent from the series (Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, etc.)
• Substantial characterization differences (particularly with the Greyjoys)
• An ultimately different ending from the HBO version

The author has teased at least one major twist impossible to execute in the show's continuity involving a character who died in the series but remains alive in the books.

A Dream of Spring and Other Future Works

The planned final book in the series, A Dream of Spring, is also projected to exceed 1,500 pages. Martin describes its ending as "bittersweet" rather than purely triumphant.

Beyond completing A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin continues working on:

• Blood & Fire (second Targaryen history volume)
• Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas
• Editing the Wild Cards series
• Producing House of the Dragon and Dark Winds