Summary
- The Winds of Winter surpasses a record, marking the longest gap between releases in George R.R. Martin's series.
- Fans express frustration over Martin's involvement in other projects, delaying the highly anticipated book.
- Martin offers no timeline for finishing The Winds of Winter, leaving fans uncertain about when it will be released.
Even though Game of Thrones' latter seasons left some fans feeling frustrated and dismayed at how the show concluded, George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world is still just as popular as ever, especially regarding the author's highly anticipated sixth installment in the series, The Winds of Winter. However, the unfinished book has now passed a disappointing new milestone: the longest wait ever between the A Song of Ice and Fire series, leaving fans of Martin’s realm of Westeros with their heads in their hands.
Recently, Game of Thrones fans were again beside themselves that the author was side-tracked from finishing his sixth novel due to the announcement of his involvement with Colossal Biosciences on the reveal of the first-ever de-extinction of an animal, the dire wolf, leaving them scratching their heads as to why he would tackle such a huge project when The Winds of Winter still hasn't seen the light of day. Now, fans of the legendary writer are wondering how long their patience will hold up for after hearing the sobering length of time it has now been between any Westeros books being released.
George R. R. Martin’s Next Game of Thrones Spinoff Gets an Encouraging Update
Game of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin, has given another promising update on HBO's prequel series.
The Wait for The Winds of Winter Breaks a New Record in 2025
As reported by Comic Book, George R.R. Martin’s highly anticipated sixth installment in the series, The Winds of Winter, has set a new yet disappointing achievement this year. Since A Feast for Crows and the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, it has been over six years, which is the longest ever gap between releases. A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire and was released in August 1996, with A Clash of Kings hitting the shelves in February 1999. After that, A Storm of Swords saw the light of day in November 2000, but from there, Martin's writing slowed down, with fans having a five-year wait for A Feast for Crows, which was published in November 2005. The fifth installment in the series tested fans' patience when they had to sit on their hands until July 2011 for the release of A Dance with Dragons. Even though the latter installments were an excruciating wait for fans, the almost 14-year-long delay for The Winds of Winter has fans struggling to comprehend how much longer they will have to wait for the next book.
On Reddit, fans of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world have been, as always, very vocal about this new Game of Thrones record-breaking milestone. One Westeros fan, who seems beyond tired of the six years, four months wait since Fire & Blood hit the shelves, said, "Dany has been in Meereen since the Clinton administration," while another pointed out that the wait length is "approaching the time that Jon has been dead longer than he was alive," which will be true in 2028. "For many of us, Roberts Rebellion is about to be the same time period between now and when we first read Dance," exclaimed another.
Last month, Martin gave fans an update on The Winds of Winter, revealing that he hopes to finish the next book, but that there's no clear timeline of when that will happen. Martin also wrote on his personal blog that he was "so tired of having to issue denials" every time some offhand comment of his was made into a big deal, and that most of his comments had nothing to do "with WINDS, somehow convinces half the internet that the book is imminent. It’s not. No." Maybe this will be the year that The Winds of Winter finally rises from its long slumber, but so far, it's not looking very promising.
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- Release Date
- January 18, 2026
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Ira Parker
- Directors
- Owen Harris
- Writers
- George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
WHERE TO WATCH
- Cast
- Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Finn Bennett, Bertie Carvel, Tanzyn Crawford, Daniel Ings, Sam Spruell, Henry Ashton, Edward Ashley, Shaun Thomas
- Franchise(s)
- Game of Thrones
- Creator(s)
- George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
Source: Comic Book / Reddit