The Winds of Winter, the eagerly awaited sixth installment in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, remains one of the most anticipated works of fantasy fiction. This next chapter in the saga that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones has been in development since the release of the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, in 2011. In the years since, HBO broadcast Seasons 2-8 of Game of Thrones and the first two seasons of its spinoff, House of the Dragon.

As Martin continues to craft the next A Song of Ice and Fire novel, we’ve gathered key details about The Winds of Winter, including Martin’s updates on its length, potential release timeline, character arcs, and how it diverges from the TV series.

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The Winds of Winter Release Timeline

No official release date or window has been set for The Winds of Winter.

Initially, Martin and his publishers aimed to complete the manuscript by October 2015 to launch the book before Game of Thrones: Season 6 in March 2016, according to Martin. That target shifted to the end of 2015, but the manuscript remained unfinished. In January 2017, Martin expressed hope it would be published before the year’s end. By 2020, he targeted completion by 2021, but that deadline passed without a finished book. This was the last public estimate Martin provided for the book’s release.

In October 2022, Martin reported being about 75% done with the manuscript. By November 2023, he had completed 1,100 pages, a figure unchanged from his December 2022 appearance 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.

The Winds of Winter Page Count

The Winds of Winter is expected 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 noted that the final two books in A Song of Ice and Fire will together exceed 3,000 pages.

At 1,500 pages, The Winds of Winter would surpass A Dance with Dragons, the current longest book in the series, which totaled just over 1,000 pages in its original hardcover edition.

The Winds of Winter Plot

This section contains no spoilers beyond the names of characters appearing in The Winds of Winter.

The Winds of Winter will pick up from the events of A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, the fourth and fifth books, which covered parallel narratives involving different characters. In a 2012 interview with Smarter Travel, Martin revealed that the book will open with major developments:

“The cliffhangers from A Dance with Dragons will resolve early on. I’ll kick off with two major battles: one in the ice, involving Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton’s forces near Winterfell, and another at Meereen, the battle of Slaver’s Bay, pitting Daenerys Targaryen against Yunkai’s slavers across the Narrow Sea.”

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In a 2014 interview with EW, Martin shared that Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister’s stories will intersect “in a way,” though they’ll remain apart for much of the book. “Tyrion has rediscovered his will to live and is navigating a perilous battle,” Martin said. “Daenerys has fully embraced her Targaryen identity and the family motto, signaling her return home.”

In the same interview, Martin confirmed the Dothraki will play a significant role, and “major events” will unfold at The Wall, as hinted at the end of Book 5. He also teased a unique take on unicorns, per Winter Is Coming.

Martin has warned that the tone will darken. Speaking at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2016 (via EW), he said, “The Winds of Winter is aptly named. Winter brings death, cold, and darkness, so expect some grim chapters. It won’t be the uplifting tale some readers might hope for, as many characters face their darkest moments.”

The Winds of Winter Characters

In 2016, Martin confirmed he would not introduce new point-of-view characters in The Winds of Winter. Below is a list of confirmed POV characters based on his preview chapters, blog posts, and public readings:

Daenerys Targaryen is almost certainly a POV character again, though unconfirmed. Other likely POVs include Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, and Melisandre. Martin has also confirmed that Jeyne Westerling, Robb Stark’s wife (replaced by Talisa Maegyr in the TV series), will appear in the prologue, per Hypable, though not necessarily as a POV character.

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The Winds of Winter: Book vs. TV Series

The Winds of Winter will diverge significantly from Game of Thrones due to the books’ larger cast and broader scope. Martin has noted that some characters who died in the series will survive in the books, while others who lived on screen will not. New characters absent from the show will play key roles, and existing characters will differ from their TV counterparts.

In a 2022 blog post, Martin elaborated:

My writing is increasingly diverging from the TV series. While some events from Game of Thrones will appear in The Winds of Winter, they may unfold differently. The books are far more expansive and complex. Certain events from the show won’t happen in the novels, and vice versa. Characters like Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, Jon Connington, and Aeron Damphair, absent from the show, will have their own chapters and influence the story. Secondary characters like Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, the Tattered Prince, Penny, Brown Ben Plumm, the Shavepate, Marwyn the Mage, Darkstar, and Jeyne Westerling also play significant roles. The differences between characters like Asha Greyjoy and HBO’s Yarra Greyjoy, or my Euron Greyjoy versus the show’s version, are stark. Quaithe, Rickon Stark, and Jeyne Poole still have roles to play, among others. (This complexity is why Winds is taking so long.)

New characters will also appear, though not as POVs. With battles, journeys, and schemes ahead, our main characters will encounter new faces across distant lands.

Not all characters who survived Game of Thrones will make it to the end of A Song of Ice and Fire, and not all who died in the show will die in the books. (Some will, of course, maybe most, but not all.) The ending? You’ll have to wait until I finish. Some elements will align with the show, but many won’t.

For fans disappointed by the rushed pace of Game of Thrones’ final season, Martin’s comments suggest a more nuanced approach to character arcs and narrative in the books.

Martin also teased a major twist in The Winds of Winter, shared with IGN in 2016, involving characters, one of whom died in the show by Season 5’s end but remains alive in the books.

A Dream of Spring and Beyond

A Dream of Spring, the seventh and final book in A Song of Ice and Fire, is planned to be around 1,500 pages, according to Martin. At the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2016, he described its tone as “bittersweet rather than purely happy.” No release timeline exists.

Beyond The Winds of Winter, Martin is working on a second Targaryen history volume, tentatively titled Blood & Fire, and more Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, which inspire HBO’s upcoming spinoff, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. He continues editing the Wild Cards sci-fi series, launched in 1987, and serves as a producer for House of the Dragon and AMC’s Dark Winds.