Fans of the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire have been given a sobering update from its creator, as George R.R. Martin admits he continues to find completing the long-awaited sixth novel a monumental challenge.
The Agonising Wait for Westeros
The author, now 77, has been writing The Winds of Winter since 2010, a staggering 16-year endeavour that has tested the patience of readers worldwide. Between 1996 and 2011, Martin published five books in the series, which were famously adapted into HBO's global phenomenon Game of Thrones. The prolonged delay for the next instalment has left many questioning if it will ever see the light of day.
In a candid new interview, Martin did little to assuage those fears. He confessed he is actively "struggling" to complete the manuscript, noting that "the actual writing is getting harder." With characteristic understatement, he added, "Maybe I'm overoptimistic about how quickly I can write these things."
New Chapters and a Darker Destiny
Despite the slow progress, Martin did reveal significant new details about the book's content. He dropped a bombshell for readers by confirming that The Winds of Winter will feature point-of-view chapters from Jon Snow. The character was seemingly killed at the end of the previous book, 2011's A Dance with Dragons, mirroring his murder in the TV series before his resurrection.
Martin appeared to let this detail slip when discussing his writing process with The Hollywood Reporter. He explained his method of switching between characters, saying, "I will open the last chapter I was working on and I'll say, 'Oh f***, this is not very good.' And I'll go in and I'll rewrite it. Or I'll decide, 'This Tyrion chapter is not coming along, let me write a Jon Snow chapter.'" Readers have taken this as clear confirmation of Snow's return from the dead in the books.
The author also emphasised that his concluding narrative will diverge from the television adaptation and be notably less cheerful. "I was going to kill more people – not the ones they killed [in the show]," he stated. He specifically mentioned that he does not "see a happy ending for Tyrion Lannister," played by Peter Dinklage on screen, as "his whole arc has been tragic from the first." He further revealed he had originally intended to kill Sansa Stark but is reconsidering, partly due to Sophie Turner's appealing portrayal in the series.
Distractions and the "Curse of My Life"
Martin attributed part of the delay to his numerous other commitments. These include more novellas for the characters Dunk and Egg, who are the focus of the new HBO series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which begins in the UK on Monday, 19 January 2026.
"I do think if I can just get some of these other things off my back, I could finish The Winds of Winter pretty soon," he said, though he immediately hedged, "It's been made clear to me that Winds is the priority, but … I don't know. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for that."
He addressed the frequent fan backlash he receives whenever he announces a project unrelated to the novel. "Every time that happens, and I announce it on my website, half the internet goes crazy. 'Why the f*** is George RR Martin writing this other thing when he should be writing Winds of Winter?'" He has previously called the book "the curse of my life" and acknowledged in October 2025 that "Winds of Winter is 13 years late."
Martin remains contractually set to follow The Winds of Winter with a seventh and final volume, currently titled A Dream of Spring. For now, however, the literary world holds its breath, waiting for the winds to finally blow through the pages of the next chapter of Westeros.
