Winter is Coming. Will the “Winds of Winter” Ever?

Game of Thrones spoilers ahead

The recent release of the “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” trailer for the HBO show airing January 2026 has “A Song of Ice and Fire” fans questioning if the author, George R.R. Martin, will ever complete his best selling book series. 

“A Song of Ice and Fire” is the five-book basis for the hit TV series, “Game of Thrones.” “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” takes place 100 years before the events of the main series, but some fans want content that takes place after season eight of “Game of Thrones.” 

A sequel is essentially impossible without involvement from the author for one key reason: Martin has never finished writing the series.

IMDB ranked “Game of Thrones” as the most watched TV series of all time—and just as famous is its notoriously unsatisfying finale, which left fans hoping for a different ending through the hopefully to-be-completed book series. 

Martin’s failure to finish writing books in a timely manner caused the showrunners and writers of “Game of Thrones” to draw their own conclusions. While Martin informed them of some of the major plot points, he did not inform them of how the plot will arrive at these events, making some character arcs feel forced—and leaving fans unsatisfied.

George R. R. Martin with a wolf bred to be a dire wolf. Dire wolves are important characters in Martin's novels. Photo illustration by Dylan Ryu.

The last book in the series, “A Dance with Dragons,” was released in 2011 and left a certain Jon Snow face down and dead in the snow. Yes, you read that right—Jon Snow is still dead in the books, despite his miraculous return in the series. In fact, a myriad of characters who die in the TV series are still alive on paper. 

Basically, it is almost certain that Jon Snow will be raised from the dead, should Martin continue the series. But, for now, he is still dead.

A few months before the release of “A Dance with Dragons” in 2011, Martin predicted 3 years to complete the next installment titled “The Winds of Winter.” In 2016, Martin blogged saying, “I am not writing anything until I deliver the WINDS OF WINTER.” 

This proved untrue. Martin announced “Fire and Blood,” a book detailing the Targaryen dynasty and serving as the basis for the prequel HBO show, “The House of the Dragon.” 

Regarding “The Winds of Winter,” Martin quipped in 2019 that fans can “imprison him if he’s not finished by July 2020.” The COVID-19 pandemic provided Martin a lot of time to work on the novel, with him completing “hundreds and hundreds of pages” but still “hundred of more pages to write to bring the novel to a satisfactory conclusion.” 

Up until late 2024, most were confident that Martin would eventually complete the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, but when the author started to show doubt, so did fans. 

Martin told The Hollywood Reporter in December of 2024 that he is “unfortunately…13 years late” after missing many deadlines and failing to fulfill contract obligations to release the sixth installment in the series. 

He plans to finish “A Song of Ice and Fire” with two more books, so even if he finishes “The Winds of Winter,” will he ever make it to “A Dream of Spring”? Martin was extremely productive during the pandemic. Can he be productive post-pandemic?

Martin turned 77 years old in 2025 and some fans wonder if he will complete his life’s work in the upcoming years before he is too old to do so. Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series was famously completed by Brandon Sanderson, a popular fantasy author, after Jordan’s death in 2007. 

Sanderson comments that he “wouldn’t say yes to finishing A Song of Ice and Fire” partly because he “wouldn’t be right for the job.” As of now, there is no evidence to indicate that a successor will complete Martin’s work if he is unable to do so himself.

One possibility for Martin’s stalling could be the reaction to the ending of the TV series. Lots of fans felt the actions of characters went against the characterization from the previous seven seasons, leading season eight to feel meaningless and contradictory to past seasons.

For example, a hidden parentage plotline of main character Jon Snow complicates the battle for the throne, but ultimately yields nothing. Jon does little with his claim to the throne. 

Some of these events, such as the death of Daenerys, would have gone over better with fans if the decisions of characters were supported by their carefully crafted characterization spanning back the past eight seasons.

If Martin has planned so much of the ending, what could be the reason for the stall? Martin has at least planned parts of the ending, but after he accidentally killed off a character he needed, he is struggling to make the pieces fit, he told fellow author Diana Gabaldon. She recounted this conversation with Martin at a literary event. The intricate worldbuilding of this epic fantasy requires a careful solution, perhaps one Martin is struggling to find.

Martin shared with showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss that Bran would in fact be king, as happened in the show. What makes the finale of “Games of Thrones” unsatisfactory is how rushed all the plotlines are, not that Bran ends as king.

Will Martin change his prescribed ending because of fan response, if he finishes it at all? 

In my opinion, Sanderson nor any successor should not take on Martin’s work. It is his battle and all I can do is hope that he is willing and able to finish this work he started. Are fans who monetarily invested in this series owed an ending after Martin assured fans he would eventually finish it? 

Martin notes that when the book is done, “the word will not trickle out, there WILL be a big announcement…where and when I cannot say.” It keeps me up at night wondering who the prince who was promised is, and if we ever know for sure. 

All I can hope for is the genius behind “Game of Thrones” to complete his most famous work. Martin’s work was a trailblazer for the epic fantasy genre and it is up to him to finish it. If he sticks the landing, his series will cement itself as one of the greatest epic fantasies ever written.

So, until we hear word from George R.R. Martin, winter is not coming.