"Winds of Winter: Latest Updates on Game of Thrones Book"

The Winds of Winter, the eagerly awaited sixth installment in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, has fans on the edge of their seats. Since the release of the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, in 2011, the fantasy saga that inspired HBO's Game of Thrones has left readers yearning for more. In the intervening 13 years, HBO has not only completed Seasons 2-8 of Game of Thrones but also launched the first two seasons of its spinoff, House of the Dragon. As Martin diligently works on the next novel, we've put together a comprehensive guide on everything we know about The Winds of Winter, including insights on its length, expected release timeline, story details, and how it differs from the TV series.

Jump to:

• When will it come out?
• How long will it be?
• Story details
• Book vs. TV series

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Winds of Winter Release Date

There is no official release date or window announced for The Winds of Winter. Initially, Martin and his publishers aimed to have the manuscript completed by the end of October 2015, with a release planned for March 2016 ahead of Game of Thrones: Season 6. However, this deadline slipped, and subsequent targets for the end of 2015 and the end of 2017 also passed without a finished manuscript. By 2020, Martin set a goal to finish the initial draft by 2021, which did not materialize. The last public estimate from Martin came in October 2022 when he stated he was about 75% done with the manuscript. By November 2023, he had completed 1,100 pages, a figure unchanged from his December 2022 mention on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In a December 2024 interview, Martin acknowledged the possibility that he might not complete The Winds of Winter in his lifetime.

Winds of Winter Length

The Winds of Winter is projected to span approximately 1,500 pages. As of November 2023, Martin had written around 1,100 pages, with "hundreds more pages to go." He has indicated that the final two books in the series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, will collectively exceed 3,000 pages. If The Winds of Winter reaches 1,500 pages, it will be the longest book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, surpassing the current record holder, A Dance with Dragons, which was just over 1,000 pages in its hardcover edition.

Winds of Winter Story

This section contains no spoilers beyond the names of characters expected to appear in The Winds of Winter.

The Winds of Winter will pick up where the fourth and fifth books, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, left off. These books ran parallel narratives following different characters. Martin has promised an explosive start to Winds, resolving the cliffhangers from A Dance with Dragons by opening with two major battles: one in the ice between Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton around Winterfell, and another at Meereen in Slaver's Bay between Daenerys Targaryen and the slavers of Yunkai.

Martin has hinted that Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister's paths will finally intersect "in a way," though they will remain apart for much of the book. Tyrion's survival instinct has been reignited, and he's actively working to live through the upcoming conflicts. Meanwhile, Daenerys has fully embraced her Targaryen heritage. The Dothraki are set to play a significant role, and "a lot of stuff is happening at The Wall." Martin also teased an "interesting take on unicorns." He warned readers to brace for darker times, reflecting the ominous title, The Winds of Winter, and the long-promised arrival of winter.

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Winds of Winter Characters

As of 2016, Martin planned no new point-of-view (POV) characters for Winds. Confirmed POV characters include:

• Tyrion Lannister
• Cersei Lannister
• Jaime Lannister and/or Brienne of Tarth
• Arya Stark
• Sansa Stark
• Bran Stark
• Theon Greyjoy
• Asha Greyjoy
• Victarion Greyjoy
• Aeron Greyjoy/Damphair
• Barristan Selmy
• Arianne Martell
• Areo Hotah
• Jon Connington

While not officially confirmed, it's highly likely that Daenerys Targaryen will continue as a POV character. Other potential POVs include Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, and Melisandre. Jeyne Westerling, Robb Stark's wife in the books (replaced by Talisa Maegyr in the TV series), will appear in the prologue, though it's unclear if she'll be a POV character.

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Winds of Winter: Book vs. TV Show

The Winds of Winter is expected to diverge significantly from the Game of Thrones TV series due to the books' larger cast and more complex narrative. Martin has confirmed that characters who died in the show will live in the books, and vice versa. New characters absent from the screen will have substantial roles, and even familiar characters will have different arcs. In a 2022 blog post, Martin elaborated on these differences, noting that his "gardening" approach to writing has taken the story further from the TV adaptation. He highlighted characters like Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, and others who were not featured in the show but will play crucial roles in the books. Additionally, Martin teased a major twist involving characters, one of whom was dead in the show by the end of Season 5 but remains alive in the books.

Martin's assurance of significant deviations from the TV series should reassure fans disappointed by the rapid pacing and condensed storylines of Game of Thrones' final season.

A Dream of Spring and Other Future Works

A Dream of Spring, the seventh and final book in the series, is also expected to be at least 1,500 pages long. Martin has hinted at a "bittersweet" ending, but no release timeline has been set. Alongside Winds and A Dream of Spring, Martin is working on a second volume of his Targaryen history, tentatively titled Blood & Fire, and further stories in his Tales of Dunk and Egg series, which will serve as the basis for HBO's upcoming spinoff, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. He continues to edit the Wild Cards series and is a producer for House of the Dragon and AMC's Dark Winds.

For more on A Song of Ice and Fire, explore our guide on how to read the Game of Thrones books in order.