Blah blah George R.R. Martin blah blah The Winds of Winter blah blah 11 years since A Dance With Dragons came out blah blah waiting forever blah blah never finishing it blah blah etc. But now, Martin has offered a vitally important update on the long-, long-awaited sixth volume in his A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy epic: it’s long.
Sorry, that was it. More than a decade in, and GRRM has dropped the revelatory bombshell that The Winds of Winter, should it ever be brought into our material plane, will be a long book. From his Not a Blog blog: “THE WINDS OF WINTER is going to be a big book. The way it is going, it could be bigger than A STORM OF SWORDS or A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, the longest books in the series to date. I do usually cut and trim once I finish, but I need to finish first.”
So. The sixth instalment of a series already known for being comprised of long books will also be a long book. In fact, it might be the longest book. Or it may not. Who knows? Not George R.R. Martin, who still doesn’t seem to have an end in sight for writing the ding-dang thing, let alone publishing it.
I’m a firm believer that Martin doesn’t owe his fans anything, and if The Winds of Winter doesn’t come out it’ll be a huge bummer, but it’s not worth threatening him or hassling him over. But whenever he gives an update on the book, it’s all banal information that’s designed to generate interest without ever saying anything substantial. Please take a look at Gizmodo’s Winds of Winter coverage from the past few years:
• GRRM Says Writing The Winds of Winter Is Hard
• GRRM Says He Got a Lot Done on Winds of Winter During the Pandemic
• GRRM Hopes He’ll Have a First Draft of Winds of Winter Done by July 2020
I just wish he’d stop talking about the book until he has something concrete to say about it, because it almost feels like he’s trolling us with all this non-news news. But I guess better this than continually promising us release dates and then blowing past them.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.