George R.R. Martin Has a Candidly Bleak View on His Long Delayed 'Game of Thones' Novel (2025)

George R.R. Martin knows exactly what the internet says about his long-awaited (fast becoming never-to-arrive) penultimate volume of his A Song of Ice and Fire saga. As an author constantly under fire from fans for having taken 13 years and counting to tell his version of what HBO’s Game Of Thrones put on screen over six years ago, you would think that Martin might try to deflect endless questions about the status of the novel. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth, and instead he is more than happy to admit that The Winds of Winter is “the curse of my life.”

Online memes have made use of the recent news that scientists have been able to bring the extinct dire wolf back to life in less time than it has taken Martin to complete the sixth novel in the saga. Some have even suggested that dragons could be roaming the Earth before anyone sees the novel hit the shelves, and in a new interview, the 75-year-old has once again candidly addressed the situation. Speaking to Time, Martin said:

“That’s the curse of my life. There’s no doubt ‘Winds of Winter’ is 13 years late. I’m still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention and suddenly, I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows, I have something else to do.”

Many fans have blasted Martin for involving himself in shows such as House of the Dragon, or the recent movie In the Lost Lands, but while fans are continually frustrated by the lack of movement on The Winds of Winter, they are just going to have to accept that in the end Martin is going to do Martin.

'House of the Dragon' Season 3 Is in Production

While those who have never picked up a novel are not really that bothered if Martin never finishes A Song of Ice and Fire on paper, others who have been waiting since 2011 for the next installment have almost given in and resigned themselves to knowing that they will not get to see how Martin’s version of the story plays out compared to that of the divisive final season of Game of Thrones.

However, fans of his TV shows are now awaiting the third season of Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, which recently began filming. This obviously means that Martin’s time will once again be taken up by advising and overseeing some of the changes made to the scripts compared to his historical novel, Fire & Blood, which charts the Targaryen dynasty years before the events of Game of Thrones.

It is clear that the frustration of fans awaiting Martin’s new novel is set to continue, and some have even attempted to find solace in asking ChatGPT to write the final novel – we won’t even go into how incredibly wrong that goes. It seems that the harsh, cold truth is that The Winds of Winter may end up remaining buried in the show with no signs of spring coming to thaw it out. But, we have dire wolves now, so who cares, right?

Source: Time

House of the Dragon

TV-MA

Drama Action Adventure Fantasy

Cast

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  Fabien Frankel

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  Graham McTavish

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  Olivia Cooke

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  Gavin Spokes

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