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American author George R.R. Martin, in a recent interview with TIME, expressed how he feels about fans questioning the release timeline of his long-awaited upcoming book, The Winds of Winter. The acclaimed author, according to Entertainment Weekly, in the interview, called the book “the curse of my life.”
This comes after last week, when the author made headlines for posing with a real direwolf, an ice age species which was extinct but made a comeback due to developments in biotech, as per the report.
Although the Game of Thrones author is known to feature these wolves in his “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series, fans joked about his progress on the upcoming book, saying, "We got real dire wolves before Winds of Winter."
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After George R.R. Martin’s interview with TIME went viral, fans took to X to express their opinion. An X user (@IndianKid23) wrote:
“Just finish the book man.”
Fans who have been waiting for George R.R. Martin to release “Winds of Winter" expressed their concern about whether the book will see the light of day.
“There's that fanboy part of me that hopes he's gonna drop both books pretty quickly, but man after 13 years ive lost all hope i'll see this at all lol,” an X account added.
“Basically its over,” another fan added.
“Even if he finishes this one... There has to be the 7th,” one fan wrote.
“It’s never coming out is it ?” a fan questioned.
George R.R. Martin on releasing The Winds of Winter
The Game of Thrones mastermind, in a video shared by TIME on April 15, 2025, on its official YouTube channel, admitted that the penultimate novel of his "Song of Ice and Fire" series is 13 years late.
While the best-selling author said that he has been working on other projects, he also assured that there is “progress” in “The Winds of Winter” novel.
Sharing about his work on other projects and the progress in writing the fan-awaited novel, The Winds of Winter, the 76-year-old author, who is also a television writer and television producer, said in the TIME interview.
"There’s no doubt Winds of Winter is 13 years late. I’m still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention and suddenly I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows, I have something else to do."
The American author also talked about all the backlash he has been receiving from his fans over the years after he became busy with his other pursuits, including renovating a movie theatre and opening a bookstore.
"I swear, I opened a bookstore and people say, 'Why is George R.R. Martin opening a bookstore when he should be writing Winds of Winter?' I don't actually work in the bookstore, you know."
Meanwhile, fans of the series have been eagerly waiting for The Winds of Winter since its predecessor, A Dance With Dragons, was published in 2011.
However, George R.R. Martin has indeed been working on many projects, including his deal with HBO of developing spinoffs, including House of the Dragon, the AMC series Dark Winds, and more.
