The Winds of Winter: Everything We Know About the Next Game of Thrones Book

George R.R. Martin's The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in the highly anticipated A Song of Ice and Fire series, remains one of the most eagerly awaited works of fiction. Following the 2011 release of A Dance with Dragons (book five), its creation has spanned over a decade, coinciding with the broadcast of HBO's Game of Thrones (seasons 2-8) and House of the Dragon (seasons 1-2). While Martin continues his work, we've compiled a comprehensive overview of everything known about The Winds of Winter, encompassing his insights on its length, publication timeline, characters, and key differences from the television adaptation.

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• Release Date
• Length
• Story Details
• Book vs. TV Series

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Winds of Winter Release Date

Currently, there's no confirmed release date or timeframe for The Winds of Winter. Initial hopes, expressed by Martin and his publishers, targeted completion by October 2015 for a March 2016 release, preceding Game of Thrones Season 6. This deadline, however, proved optimistic, as did subsequent projections in January 2017 (completion before year's end), and 2020 (initial work completed by 2021). Martin's last public estimate appears to be in 2022. In October 2022, he reported being approximately 75% complete with the manuscript. In November 2023, he stated 1,100 pages were finished—a figure consistent with his December 2022 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. A December 2024 interview hinted at the possibility that the book may never be finished in his lifetime.

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Winds of Winter Length

The Winds of Winter is anticipated to be approximately 1,500 pages long. As of November 2023, Martin indicated roughly 1,100 pages were written, with "hundreds more pages to go." He's previously stated that the final two A Song of Ice and Fire books will collectively exceed 3,000 pages. A 1,500-page Winds of Winter would surpass the current longest book in the series, A Dance with Dragons (slightly over 1,000 pages in its original hardcover edition).

Winds of Winter Story

This section avoids spoilers beyond character names. The Winds of Winter will continue the narrative threads from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons (books four and five), which featured parallel storylines. Martin has indicated a dramatic opening: "There were a lot of cliffhangers at the end of A Dance with Dragons. Those will be resolved very early. I’m going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice [Stannis Baratheon vs. Roose Bolton near Winterfell] and the battle at Meereen — the battle of Slaver’s Bay [Daenerys Targaryen vs. the slavers of Yunkai]."

The paths of Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister will converge, though they remain largely separated for a significant portion of the book. The Dothraki will feature prominently, and considerable action will unfold at The Wall. Martin has also teased an "interesting take on unicorns." He's described the overall tone as darker, stating, "There are a lot of dark chapters right now in the book that I’m writing…Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for."

Winds of Winter Characters

As of 2016, Martin planned no new point-of-view characters. Confirmed POV characters include: Tyrion Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, Bran Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Asha Greyjoy, Victarion Greyjoy, Aeron Greyjoy/Damphair, Barristan Selmy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, and Jon Connington. Daenerys Targaryen is highly likely to return as a POV character. Other potential POV characters include Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, and Melisandre. Jeyne Westerling's appearance in the prologue has been confirmed.

Winds of Winter: Book vs. TV Show

Significant differences exist between The Winds of Winter and Game of Thrones. Martin has confirmed that characters' fates will diverge: some who died in the show will live in the books, and vice versa. New characters will be introduced, and those absent from the show will play crucial roles. In a 2022 blog post, he elaborated on these disparities, highlighting the inclusion of POV characters exclusive to the books (Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, Jon Connington, Aeron Damphair) and the differing portrayals of existing characters (Yarra/Asha Greyjoy, Euron Greyjoy). He also mentioned the continued roles of Quaithe, Rickon Stark, and Jeyne Poole, and the introduction of new characters. He emphasized that the ending will also differ substantially from the television series. This divergence should appeal to fans who felt the final season of Game of Thrones rushed the narrative.

Martin also teased a major plot twist impossible to adapt for the show, involving a character deceased in the show but alive in the books.

A Dream of Spring and Other Future Works

A Dream of Spring, the planned seventh and final book, is also expected to be around 1,500 pages or more. Martin has hinted at a bittersweet ending. Beyond A Song of Ice and Fire, he's working on a second volume of Targaryen history (potentially titled Blood & Fire), additional Dunk and Egg novellas (related to HBO's Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), and continues his involvement with Wild Cards, House of the Dragon, and AMC's Dark Winds.