George RR Martin Claims The Winds Of Winter Is The 'Curse' Of His Life Amid 13-Year Delay

George RR Martin, the fantasy titan behind A Song of Ice and Fire, has branded his long-awaited novel The Winds of Winter 'the curse of my life' in a stark admission during a 2025 Time interview, now 15 years since he first teased chapters from it.

Fans clinging to hopes of closure for Jon Snow and Daenerys face another blow, as Martin, at 77, battles distractions from HBO spinoffs while stuck at roughly 1,100 manuscript pages.

It can be recalled that A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book, dropped in July 2011 amid Game of Thrones fever, leaving brutal cliffhangers like Snow's stabbing that the HBO series raced past years later. Martin pledged then to dive straight back in by January 2012, but side projects and rewrites soon piled up, turning what he once eyed for a swift three-year finish into an endless Westeros winter.​

Martin's Early Winds of Winter Optimism Fades Fast

Back in June 2010, Martin shifted two Arianne chapters from Dragons to Winds, boasting four done: Arya, Sansa and the two Ariannes. 'Good news for The Winds of Winter,' he blogged cheerily. By July, an Aeron Greyjoy chapter followed, with over 100 pages in the bank. Things looked brisk.​

April 2011 brought bolder talk to The Guardian: 'Realistically, it's going to take me three years to finish the next one at a good pace. I hope it doesn't take me six years like this last one.' Yet October 2012's 400 pages came with caveats, only 200 polished, and a sheepish nod that he was 'really bad' at forecasts. Fans lapped it up anyway, eyeing 2014.​

That dream curdled. By April 2015, Martin was scrambling to beat Game of Thrones season six, ditching cons to 'clear my decks.' Publishers set October and December deadlines; he blew both. 'I tried, I promise you. I failed,' he confessed in January 2016, vowing no more targets after the show overtook his books. 'The show moved faster than I anticipated and I moved more slowly.' HBO's telling spoiled Winds plot points he had shared.​

Martin doubled down in February 2016: no teleplays, shorts, or edits, bar Wild Cards, till delivery. He backpedalled soon enough. January 2017? 'I think it will be out this year. (But hey, I thought the same thing last year).'​

Martin Drowns in Spinoffs as Book Stagnates

July 2017 teased a 'Westeros book' for 2018, maybe two, as Fire & Blood muscled in. April dashed it: keep waiting. June insisted Winds topped priorities amid spinoff pilots; November delivered Fire & Blood instead, fodder for House of the Dragon.​

Self-laceration followed. To Entertainment Weekly, he raged about dark nights pounding keys: 'God, will I ever finish this? The show is going further and further forward and I'm falling further and further behind.' The Wall Street Journal had him hiding in the mountains. A Penguin Random House Q&A explained pausing for Fire & Blood at publishers' behest: 'Give us the new book that's closer to being done.'​

Jokes masked pain. May 2019: 'Imprison me in a small cabin on White Island' if not done by Worldcon 2020. Pandemic virtualised it. June 2020: steady progress on a huge tome, a long way left. 2020 yielded hundreds of pages, his best year, thanks to isolation rolls. But 2021 slowed: 'less ... but 'less' is 'none.''

Westeros exploded beyond the Winds. March 2022: enormous projects, Fire & Blood vol two, more Dunk & Egg, HBO heaviness. 'They ALL matter to me,' he snapped at book purists. October: three-quarters done, per Penguin; couple of characters wrapped on Late Show, but ages off early hopes. December: 1,100-1,200 pages, 400-500 to go, manuscript miles from print. Rewrites killed: ripping apart old chapters.​

Distractions mounted. April 2023: producing A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, more novellas needed lest shows lap him. November 2023: still 1,100 pages. 'Maybe I should've started writing smaller books.' July 2024: scold to speculation fiends; big announcement awaits finish, post-Hedge Knight chat.​

Martin Faces Dire Wolves and Fan Fury

April 2025's dire wolf pups from Colossal Biosciences thrilled Martin, dire House Stark sigil reborn from ancient DNA. Social mockery stung: real wolves before Winds. To Time: 'That's the curse of my life. 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.'

Bookstore gripes irked: 'I don't actually work in the bookstore.' HBO deadlines, theatre, all nibble time. July 2025 hinted 1,500 pages, longest yet, chapters done but weaving plots tricky. August: Seattle con heckle, 'not going to be around much longer,' Sanderson pitch booed.​

October 2025: AI suit jab, 'no computer will ever write The Winds of Winter,' implying unfinished. Comic-Con: loves it, works it, loves others too. December: knight fans contest backlash. January 2026: Knight premieres, faithful to Hedge Knight, season two greenlit.​

Latest Hollywood Reporter: 1,100 pages, producer-celebrity distractions 'curse' and boon. Abandon? 'Feel like a total failure. I want to finish.' No heir apparent. Oxford: books diverge from show's end; main regret unfinished. Pandemic cabin yielded Tyrion gems he scrapped. February 2026: feels vital at 77, rumours idle, still grinding.

Winds precedes A Dream of Spring, more Fire & Blood, Dunk slips in 'copious spare time' to outpace TV. Martin's wind-words gust, but shelves stay bare.