"Winds of Winter: Latest Updates on Next Game of Thrones Book"

The Winds of Winter, the eagerly awaited sixth installment in George R.R. Martin's acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series, remains one of the most anticipated works in modern fiction. Since the release of the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, in 2011, fans have been on the edge of their seats. In the intervening years, HBO has aired Seasons 2-8 of Game of Thrones and Seasons 1 and 2 of its spinoff, House of the Dragon, yet the next chapter in the fantasy saga continues to elude readers.

While George R.R. Martin diligently works on The Winds of Winter, we've gathered everything known about the book—from its expected length and release timeline to insights on its characters and how it will differ from the television adaptation. Below, you'll find a comprehensive overview of what to expect.

Jump to:

• When will it come out?
• How long will it be?
• Story details
• Book vs. TV series

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Winds of Winter Release Date

There is currently no set release date or window for The Winds of Winter.

Martin and his publishers initially aimed to complete the manuscript by the end of October 2015, hoping to publish Winds the following March ahead of Game of Thrones: Season 6. However, this soft deadline slipped to the end of 2015, and subsequently, no manuscript was completed. In January 2017, Martin expressed optimism that it would be out before the end of that year. By 2020, he targeted finishing the initial draft by 2021, but this timeline did not materialize. This was the last public estimation Martin made regarding the book's completion.

In October 2022, Martin reported being about 75% done with the manuscript. Over the next year, progress seemed to stall, as he announced in November 2023 that 1,100 pages had been completed—a figure unchanged from his December 2022 mention on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In a December 2024 interview, Martin acknowledged the possibility that he might not finish The Winds of Winter in his lifetime.

Winds of Winter Length

The Winds of Winter is projected to span around 1,500 pages. As of November 2023, Martin had written approximately 1,100 pages and indicated there were "hundreds more pages to go." He has stated that the final two books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series will collectively exceed 3,000 pages.

If The Winds of Winter reaches 1,500 pages, it will surpass the current longest book in the series, A Dance with Dragons, which was just over 1,000 pages in its original hardcover release.

Winds of Winter Story

This section contains no spoilers, only the names of characters expected to appear in The Winds of Winter.

The Winds of Winter will pick up where the fourth and fifth books, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, left off. These books, which followed different sets of characters but ran parallel narratives, set the stage for major events in Winds. Martin, in a 2012 interview with Smarter Travel, teased that Winds would start with a bang:

"There were a lot of cliffhangers at the end of A Dance with Dragons. Those will be resolved very early. I'm going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice [between the forces of Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton in and around Winterfell] and the battle at Meereen — the battle of Slaver's Bay [between the forces of Daenerys Targaryen and the slavers of Yunkai across the Narrow Sea]."

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In a 2014 interview with EW, Martin hinted that Daenerys Targaryen’s and Tyrion Lannister’s paths would finally cross "in a way," but for much of the book, they would remain apart. Both characters have significant roles to play. Tyrion, having decided he wants to live, navigates the battle around him, while Daenerys embraces her Targaryen heritage.

Martin also confirmed the Dothraki's return "in a big way," and, as suggested at the end of Book 5, "a lot of stuff is happening at The Wall." Additionally, Martin promised an "interesting take on unicorns."

Martin has warned that things will "get worse before they get better." In a 2016 statement at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, he noted, "It is called The Winds of Winter, and I've been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places."

Winds of Winter Characters

As of 2016, Martin confirmed there would be no new point-of-view characters introduced in Winds. Below is a list of characters expected to have chapters told from their perspective, based on Martin's released preview chapters, blog posts, and public readings:

• Tyrion Lannister
• Cersei Lannister
• Jaime Lannister and/or Brienne of Tarth
• Arya Stark
• Sansa Stark
• Bran Stark
• Theon Greyjoy
• Asha Greyjoy
• Victarion Greyjoy
• Aeron Greyjoy/Damphair
• Barristan Selmy
• Arianne Martell
• Areo Hotah
• Jon Connington

While not officially confirmed, Daenerys Targaryen is almost certain to be a point-of-view character again. Other potential POV characters include Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, and Melisandre. Jeyne Westerling, Robb Stark's wife in the books (replaced by Talisa Maegyr in the TV series), will appear in the prologue, though it's unclear if it will be from her perspective.

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Winds of Winter: Book vs. TV Show

The Winds of Winter will diverge significantly from the Game of Thrones television series due to its broader scope and larger cast. Martin has indicated that characters who died in the show will survive in the books, and vice versa. New characters will be introduced, and those not seen on-screen will play crucial roles.

In a 2022 blog post, Martin elaborated on these differences:

"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.

And really, when you think about it, this was inevitable. The novels are much bigger and much much more complex than the series. Certain things that happened on HBO will not happen in the books. And vice versa. I have viewpoint characters in the books never seen on the show: Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, Jon Connington, Aeron Damphair. They will all have chapters, and the things they do and say will impact the story and the major characters who were on the show. I have legions of secondary characters, not POVs but nonetheless important to the plot, who also figure in the story: Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, the Tattered Prince, Penny, Brown Ben Plumm, the Shavepate, Marwyn the Mage, Darkstar, Jeyne Westerling. Some characters you saw in the show are quite different than the versions in the novels. Yarra Greyjoy is not Asha Greyjoy, and HBO’s Euron Greyjoy is way, way, way, way different from mine. Quaithe still has a part to play. So does Rickon Stark. And poor Jeyne Poole. And… well, the list is long. (And all this is part of why Winds is taking so long. This is hard, guys).

Oh, and there will be new characters as well. No new viewpoints, I promise you that, but with all these journeys and battles and scheming to come, inevitably our major players will be encountering new people in lands far and near.

One thing I can say, in general enough terms that I will not be spoiling anything: not all of the characters who survived until the end of Game of Thrones will survive until the end of A Song of Ice & Fire, and not all of the characters who died on Game of Thrones will die in A Song of Ice & Fire. (Some will, sure. Of course. Maybe most. But definitely not all.) ((Of course, I could change my mind again next week, with the next chapter I write. That’s gardening)).

And the ending? You will need to wait until I get there. Some things will be the same. A lot will not."

Martin's comments should reassure fans disappointed by the quickened pace of Game of Thrones' final season, suggesting a more detailed exploration of character arcs and overarching narratives in the books.

Martin also teased a major twist in The Winds of Winter that couldn't be included in the show, involving characters, one of whom is dead in the show by the end of Season 5 but not in the books.

A Dream of Spring and Other Future Works

A Dream of Spring, the planned seventh and final book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, is expected to be at least 1,500 pages long. Martin described the book's tone at the 2016 Guadalajara International Book Fair as "as much bittersweet as it is happy," though no release timetable has been set.

In addition to completing The Winds of Winter and preparing for A Dream of Spring, Martin is working on a second volume of his Targaryen history, potentially titled Blood & Fire, and additional stories in his Tales of Dunk and Egg series, which will serve as the basis for HBO's upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Martin also continues to edit the Wild Cards series and is a producer for House of the Dragon and AMC's Dark Winds.

For those eager for more on A Song of Ice and Fire, our guide on how to read the Game of Thrones books in order is a great resource.