After over a decade of delays, A Song of Ice & Fire author George R.R. Martin has given an update on the progress of The Winds of Winter, though this time, it’s not happy news. Martin has acknowledged that he may never actually finish the long-awaited sixth book.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview, George R.R. Martin was asked about The Winds of Winter – an inevitability in most of his interviews at this point. “Unfortunately, I am 13 years late,” he said. “Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ I don’t know, it happens a day at a time.”
“But that’s still a priority,” he continued. “A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They’re saying] ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished.’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!”
Martin has kept himself quite busy since the last book in the series, A Dance With Dragons, released in 2011. Martin acted as a writer on the hit HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones and supervised at least a handful of the initial seasons (before its infamous plunge in quality in later seasons). The author also teamed up with game developer From Software to work on Elden Ring, the 2022 open-world fantasy action-RPG that went on to win Game of the Year and sweep awards season, held in high regard as one of the best games of the generation.
Back in November 2023, Martin gave fans another update stating that he was struggling to finish The Winds of Winter. With his hands in so many other projects at the moment, it’s easy to see why progress on the sixth book is moving slow. Hopefully, he’ll be able to finish the book soon – which isn’t even the last entry as Martin envisioned the series to have seven novels.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
