George R.R. Martin Admits His Success Is Delaying The Winds of Winter
The wait for The Winds of Winter has stretched past a decade as George R.R. Martin says the juggernaut success of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire—and a packed slate of projects—has made the finish line harder to reach.
George R.R. Martin knows everyone is waiting on The Winds of Winter, and yes, he knows it is very, very late. In new comments, he basically says the success of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire turned finishing the next book into a high-wire act where every step is watched — and that pressure has not helped.
Why it is taking so long
Martin told The Guardian that the global blast radius of the show and the acclaim for the books made him hyper-aware that whatever comes next has to be great. He has never been a fan of deadlines, and the constant flood of messages from fans demanding a release date only ramps up the stress. Add in the fact that he is juggling a bunch of other projects — some in Westeros, some not — and you get the picture: more noise, less writing time.
He says the book still matters to him
After an interview with Time Magazine stirred up fresh outrage, Martin posted on his Not A Blog to make it clear he still cares about finishing The Winds of Winter and wants to get it done as soon as possible. He also did not sugarcoat where things stand: by his own count, the book is more than a decade overdue — 13 years late, to be exact — and the stop-and-start nature of his process keeps dragging it out.
"That is the curse of my life here. There is no doubt Winds of Winter is 13 years late. I am still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention."
Where the manuscript actually is
Here is a fun behind-the-scenes detail: the latest status update did not come from Martin, but from author Jeffe Kennedy, who said the book is 70% done. That is a bit of a curveball because back in 2022, Martin said he was about three-quarters finished (via Penguin Random House). The numbers do not line up perfectly — 70% vs. roughly 75% — which probably reflects the reality that this kind of work is not linear. Chapters get reworked, new threads appear, and progress can look weird on a spreadsheet.
The HBO ending made it harder, not easier
If you figured the end of the TV series would clear the runway for the book, Martin says the opposite happened. The backlash to the final season did not create momentum; it made expectations even heavier.
"The very thing that should have speeded me up actually slowed me down."
With the show finished — and many fans unhappy with how it wrapped — there is a new kind of pressure for Martin to deliver an ending in print that makes everything click. That is not exactly a speed boost.
How we got here
Originally, Martin hoped to have The Winds of Winter out before Game of Thrones season 6. As the show raced ahead, that deadline came and went, and the stress spiked. He has said there were moments of literally pounding his head against the keyboard, wondering if he would ever cross the finish line. Mix in his own admission that hard deadlines are not his thing, plus the nonstop messages from fans, and you can see how the workload and the noise kept compounding.
The books so far
- A Game of Thrones — 1996
- A Clash of Kings — 1998
- A Storm of Swords — 2000
- A Feast for Crows — 2005
- A Dance with Dragons — 2011
- The Winds of Winter — TBA
- A Dream of Spring — TBA
Bottom line: Martin is still at it, he knows how late it is, and the success of the franchise has made every keystroke heavier than it used to be. When will we read it? Your guess is as good as mine — but he has not given up.