It’s been over a decade since A Dance with Dragons hit bookshelves, and fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series are still holding their breath for the long-awaited next installment, The Winds of Winter. Now, Martin himself has offered a candid—and rather ominous—update: he describes the book as “the curse of my life.”
In a recent interview, Martin acknowledged the elephant in the room: The Winds of Winter is now 13 years overdue. He didn’t mince words. “I wish I could just click my heels together and finish the damn book,” he said. “But that’s not how it works. It’s the curse of my life.” It’s a striking admission from the man who created one of the most intricate and beloved fantasy sagas of all time—a saga whose cultural shadow has only grown thanks to HBO’s Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
Martin insists he is still working on the book, albeit in fits and starts. He blames the delays not on laziness but on a combination of the book’s massive complexity and his numerous professional obligations. Between consulting on HBO adaptations, managing his various business ventures, and, yes, writing other stories, Martin admits he’s spread thin. Still, he’s quick to defend himself against critics who suggest he’s wasting time on side projects. “People act like I’m spending all day at my bookstore or running a theater. I don’t. That’s not how I spend my time,” he said, stressing that writing Winds remains a priority—even if it doesn’t always look that way from the outside.
Back in 2022, Martin estimated that he was about “three-quarters of the way done” with The Winds of Winter and that the manuscript was shaping up to be a “big, big book,” potentially longer than even A Storm of Swords. But two years later, progress remains elusive. Fans have become increasingly vocal about their frustrations. Some fear the book will never see the light of day. Others joke about the series becoming the literary equivalent of Half-Life 3—always promised, never delivered.
And yet, there’s still hope. Martin remains adamant that he will finish the story. After The Winds of Winter, he plans to tackle the seventh and final book in the series, A Dream of Spring. Whether or not that dream becomes reality is anyone’s guess.
The irony of it all is hard to ignore. Martin’s fictional world is defined by prophecy, fate, and delayed justice—an eerily fitting metaphor for the real-world wait his readers have endured. For now, fans can only re-read the previous volumes, speculate endlessly on Reddit, and brace themselves for yet another year of waiting. Or two. Or ten.
Whatever the timeline, one thing’s for sure: if and when The Winds of Winter is finally released, it will be a literary event unlike any other. And until then, the curse lives on.
Leave a Reply