The past weekend marked the 30th anniversary of George RR Martin's debut novel, A Game of Thrones, the first in his hit fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. From 1996 to 2011, Martin published four more novels in the series, with A Dance with Dragons being the latest. Since then, fans have been waiting for the penultimate book, The Winds of Winter, which has now been in progress for 15 years.
Longer than the first five
The time between the last novel and now is longer than the time it took Martin to write the first five books. In January, Martin confirmed he had written about 1,100 pages of The Winds of Winter, which is roughly the length of A Dance with Dragons, suggesting the upcoming novel could be the longest yet.
Distractions and side projects
Martin has been involved in various Game of Thrones TV productions and travels, and he is currently writing the fourth Dunk and Egg short story, as revealed by Ira Parker, showrunner of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. This could pave the way for a fourth season of that show, and possibly a fifth story for a fifth season.
Additionally, the Game of Thrones prequel play The Mad King is debuting in Stratford-upon-Avon this month, and Martin may travel to see its premiere.
