GRRM Says He’s Racing to Finish The Winds of Winter — So Why Is He Juggling Four Shows and a Documentary?
Game of Thrones outran his pen: in 2018, George R.R. Martin said missing The Winds of Winter deadline left him angrier at himself than the fans were at him.
If you feel like you’ve been waiting on The Winds of Winter for basically your entire adult life, you’re not imagining it. George R.R. Martin keeps saying he’s on it, and he is, but he’s also doing a lot of other stuff. Some of it is cool. None of it helps the book come out faster.
Back to 2018: when the show lapped the books
Martin admitted years ago that Game of Thrones passing the books wrecked him. In 2018, he told Entertainment Weekly he was furious with himself after blowing multiple deadlines and watching the series march ahead without him.
"I’ve had dark nights of the soul where I’ve pounded my head against the keyboard and said, 'God, will I ever finish this? The show is going further and further forward and I’m falling further and further behind. What the hell is happening here? I’ve got to do this.'"
By that point, he had already missed two promised dates for Winds. Not great.
Meanwhile, the producer hat stayed on
Between that 2018 interview and now, Martin kept busy in film and TV. He executive produced the documentary Meow Wolf: Origin Story (2018), then jumped onto four series: Nightflyers (2018), House of the Dragon (2022), Dark Winds (2022), and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (set for the following year at the time). So yes, the plate stayed full.
What he says now: still writing, also loving the side quests
At New York Comic Con, Martin told fans he’s still pushing to finish Winds and that he hasn’t fallen out of love with the book. He also made it clear he enjoys the other projects, too.
"Yes, I do love Winds of Winter. I’m still interested in it, I’m still working on it, but honestly, I love these other things, too."
He defended the time he spends elsewhere, pointing out that while he owns or invests in places like the Jean Cocteau Cinema, Beastly Books, and Milk of the Poppy, he isn’t managing them day to day. He’s also said that travel for work doesn’t derail his writing progress.
The fan frustration is pretty simple: the non-writing gigs can look way more time-intensive than the act of sitting down and hammering out the book’s final stretch. And he often seems more energized talking about those gigs than about the chapter count. That disconnect rubs people the wrong way.
HBO wants more Westeros, and yes, he’ll be involved
After Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon hit big, HBO decided to keep mining Westeros. The plan now includes at least six additional series plus a feature film set in that world, and Martin is expected to be an executive producer again. Fun for the franchise, less comforting if you’re counting calendar pages for Winds. The delay is closing in on 15 years, and plenty of readers have tapped out emotionally.
Where the books landed (and didn’t)
- 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
So, where are you at with this? Still hopeful, or have you made peace with the idea that Martin might be happier shepherding shows and side ventures while Winds crawls along?