Winds Of Winter: What We Know About George R.R. Martin's Next Game Of Thrones Book

The last mainline novel in author George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," the literary basis for "Game of Thrones," was "A Dance of Dragons," published in 2011. Though the television adaptation has long since reached its divisive end, with Martin revealing how he feels about the show's eighth and final season, the original novel series is still in the works. The sixth book, "The Winds of Winter" has been in development for well over a decade, continuing the saga of the warring houses of the fantasy realm of Westeros. Even after all that time, though,  Martin still hasn't finished the books yet, marking the longest delay between novels in the best-selling property.

By all accounts, Martin has put in a significant amount of work into "The Winds of Winter," but cracking the novel's story has been a particularly time-consuming challenge. Bits of information about the long-planned book, including rough excerpts, have surfaced over the years since Martin began actively writing it. For fans of the franchise looking for a more cohesive ending than its television adaptation, Martin's remaining novels may provide the narrative closure they've been looking for. Here is what we know about Martin's next "Game of Thrones" book, "The Winds of Winter."

Some of the best "Game of Thrones" characters aren't in the show at all, appearing exclusively in the novels. Among the most notable is Victarion Greyjoy, the brother of Euron, Aeron, and Balon Greyjoy and the commander of the Iron Fleet. Victarion is a brutal sadist, but he's relatively simple-minded in comparison to his brothers, as evidenced by the chapters told from his perspective. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, Martin revealed that Victarion will have a chapter set approximately five minutes after the events of "A Dance of Dragons."

When last seen in the 2011 novel, Victarion was en route to Slaver's Bay to meet with Daenerys Targaryen. Tasked with bringing Daenerys back to become Euron's wife, Victarion secretly plots making the Mother of Dragons his next wife instead. Victarion's arrival is set to play a pivotal role in the ongoing siege of Meereen involving Daenerys' control over the city. Not bad, given the fact that Victarion never actually made an appearance in HBO's "Game of Thrones."

Victarion's early role in "The Winds of Winter" corresponds with a separate reveal made by Martin in 2012. In an interview with SmarterTravel, Martin hinted that the novel will kick things off with two major battles. He elaborated further that these conflicts involve one to the North and the other in the aforementioned Meereen. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly to promote "A Dance of Dragons" in 2011, Martin noted that a big battle intended to close out the novel was pushed to its sequel.

One can infer that the Battle of Slaver's Bay will mirror the conflict in the sixth season of "Game of Thrones," with Daenerys joined by the Greyjoys, albeit without Victarion. The teased northern battle is more nebulous but likely could align with the sixth season's important Battle of the Bastards. That showdown featured a heated skirmish between the armies of House Stark and House Bolton for control of the North. However the novel aligns with the HBO series, "The Winds of Winter" is set to begin on an action-packed note.

Victarion isn't the only major literary character not to appear in "Game of Thrones," with Arianne Martell being another important figure absent from the HBO series. On his personal blog, Martin has revealed that Arianne had two chapters from her perspective removed from "A Dance of Dragons." He elaborated that the planned chapters were instead moved for inclusion in "The Winds of Winter" rather than being excised from the story completely. In 2013, Martin also shared an excerpt from "The Winds of Winter" on his website, which included a sample chapter from Arianne's perspective.

In "A Dance of Dragons," Arianne had reconciled with her father Doran after learning the extent of his plot against House Lannister. The "Winds of Winter" sample chapter has Arianne on a mission on behalf of Doran, searching for a man claiming to be Aegon Targaryen at Griffin's Roost. Aegon is the only son of Elia Martell and Rhaegar Targaryen, who was reportedly killed as an infant by Gregor Clegane. Arianne's quest will hopefully determine if Aegon actually survived while the claimant leads the Golden Company in Westeros.

One of the most impressive things about the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books is that the story unfolds from the perspective of multiple characters. This illustrates the sheer breadth of the saga being told while grounding the tale from a diverse array of viewpoints. That trend continues in "The Winds of Winter," with Martin having unveiled several familiar faces intended to have viewpoint chapters in the upcoming book. Among the viewpoint characters Martin has revealed over the years are Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, Bran Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Jamie Lannister, Theon Greyjoy, Aeron Greyjoy, and Brienne of Tarth.

This ensemble joins the previously cited Victarion Greyjoy and Arianne Martell, though there are some notable omissions from the list. Martin has yet to confirm if Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen will have viewpoint chapters in "The Winds of Winter." Though both characters are anticipated to appear in some capacity by fans, HBO's "Game of Thrones" and Martin's books already have a number of major differences. These divergences are poised to become even more apparent as Martin's intended version of the story progresses.

With all that in mind, Martin mentioned in a 2016 blog post that no new viewpoint characters were planned to be introduced in "The Winds of Winter." So, while there will likely be chapters from characters' perspectives beyond what Martin has revealed so far, they won't be from characters that readers have never met before. "A Dance of Dragons" concluded with a number of conflicts at play in different parts of the novels' fantasy realm. These plot lines will likely make up the backbone of the upcoming novel, continuing and expanding upon them rather than introducing brand-new narrative threads.

To put it in clearer terms, Martin appears to have his core cast set, at least when it comes to perspectives within his grander saga. Rather than diverting attention from these ongoing tales, his characters and plots are steadily converging throughout Westeros. In 2022, Martin revealed several non-viewpoint characters would also be resurfacing in the novel, including Rickon Stark, Euron Greyjoy, and Lady Stoneheart, who was omitted from the "Game of Thrones" show. There are plenty of fan-favorite literary characters reappearing, and Martin isn't interested in taking away from their ongoing roles.

One of the big mysteries with "The Winds of Winter" is how it will continue stories set on the northern end of Westeros. In the previously mentioned SmarterTravel interview, Martin revealed the novel will go farther north than preceding books in the series. In "A Dance of Dragons," Bran Stark had gone beyond the Wall to the north where he learned the power of greensight. This clairvoyant ability gives Bran the potential to see into the past and present when in the presence of weirwood trees.

This storyline likely parallels Bran's sixth season arc in "Game of Thrones," with the character honing his abilities under the tutelage of the Three-Eyed Raven. It's unclear if Jon will also be resurrected in the upcoming novel, though he is widely expected to, reaffirming his importance in the northern stories. Assuming Jon does recover from his fatal stabbing, he may have his own adventure north of the wall like Bran. The northern storyline has always played a pivotal role in "A Song of Ice and Fire," and Martin appears ready to go even further addressing the region's unanswered questions.

Speaking of storylines in the north, Martin hinted in the same interview that the Others will play a role in "The Winds of Winter." Better known to television fans as the White Walkers, the Others have been posing a growing threat to Westeros since the beginning of the saga. "Game of Thrones" has already changed important aspects of the White Walkers compared to the novels, and that will likely continue. One of the biggest differences so far is the creation of the Night King, giving the White Walkers an identifiable leader for fans to root against.

If Martin's next novel does advance Bran's story like the HBO series, he may be witnessing the origins of the Others through his newfound abilities. Fans of the show already know that this makes Bran a big target for the White Walkers, making even the Children of the Forest vulnerable to their enemies. In "A Dance of Dragons," Jon Snow had been preparing for the coming war with the White Walkers before understandably being waylaid by his death. In a 2012 interview with Dose, Martin confirmed that readers will learn more about the Others' history, strengthening the parallels with the HBO series' trajectory.

"A Dance of Dragons" set the record for the longest novel in the series at that time, clocking in at 1,056 pages. In an online live chat hosted by Empire, Martin estimated that the rough manuscript for "The Winds of Winter" will run around 1,500 words. Though this length could change through editing and rewrites, as is part of Martin's writing process, he has stuck with this estimate over the years. Martin's manuscripts have differed significantly from his published novels before, with "A Dance of Dragons" running for approximately 1,600 pages before material was pushed to the next novel.

Because of the sheer anticipated length and amount of writing time, Martin has revealed that his publishers have suggested he split the story into two novels. He resisted this suggestion, though, maintaining the intended story covered in "The Winds of Winter" will be contained to a single volume. If so, the book will wind up sticking closer to its manuscript estimate than "A Dance of Dragons" did. Whenever "The Winds of Winter" finally arrives, it definitely won't be lacking for narrative material.

Actively writing "The Winds of Winter" since early 2012, Martin has spent well over a decade on the sixth mainline novel in the series. As of November 2023, he revealed in an interview with Bangcast that he had written approximately 1,100 pages for the book. This was the same estimation that Martin gave the previous year, admitting that the last 400-500 pages were proving to be a challenge to finish. Since then, he has been reluctant to give more specific updates in terms of the number of pages he's completed for the novel.

Even with his other projects in literature, television, film, and video games, Martin swears he's still working on "The Winds of Winter." His writing process usually sees him revisiting, revising, and rewriting portions of the manuscript as he progresses, a strategy he's maintained for the upcoming book. Hopefully, this means that the editing process won't take too long once Martin completes a manuscript that he's satisfied with. Even upon finally finishing "The Winds of Winter," though, Martin will be far from done with "A Song of Ice and Fire."

Though Martin originally intended for "The Winds of Winter" to conclude "A Song of Ice and Fire" in his early planning stages of the story, this is no longer the case. As Martin's tale expanded considerably, he decided to finish his dark fantasy saga with a seventh mainline novel titled "A Dream of Spring." In a 2019 blog post, he speculated that the manuscripts for "The Winds of Winter" and "A Dream of Spring" will each total some 1,500 pages. That means fans shouldn't expect a definitive ending with "The Winds of Winter," as an equally long sequel novel will come after.

While it has taken Martin a long time to write "The Winds of Winter," these long development periods haven't been the norm for him. "A Dance of Dragons" was written within six years, while the preceding novels were finished even quicker. He has already hinted that "Game of Thrones" has a very different ending from his books, at least in terms of what he has planned. And given the fan response to the show's final season, one just hopes that Martin's last two books will be worth the wait.