The Winds of Winter publishing date guesses?

From the mouth of the great man himself:

And, yes, I know you all want to know about THE WINDS OF WINTER too. I've seen some truly weird reports about WOW on the internet of late, by 'journalists' who make their stories up out of whole cloth. I don't know which story is more absurd, the one that says the book is finished and I've been sitting on it for some nefarious reason, or the one that says I have no pages. Both 'reports' are equally false and equally moronic. I am still working on it, I am still months away (how many? good question), I still have good days and bad days, and that's all I care to say. Whether WINDS or the first volume of FIRE AND BLOOD will be the first to hit the bookstores is hard to say at this juncture, but I do think you will have a Westeros book from me in 2018... and who knows, maybe two. A boy can dream...
 
Wow, he is not even sure if it will be finished by end 2018 any more. My word! TV series will be well over before Winds of Winter is out.
I can see how having different projects such as screenplays makes sense but having another Game of Thrones related book possibly being released first seems ridiculous. He really must despise writing Winds of Winter. Well we should be glad he keeps going on it. But for the last couple of years he always says he is months away. Now he seems to be admitting it could be still over a year.
 
I've reached a point where I no longer have an expectation that the series will be finished and I will be content to find out the rest of the story through the TV show. If Martin happens to be able to finish 2 more books at the very least, maybe more given how many open plot lines he has right now, that's great, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
The dialogue in the latest Game of Thrones TV episodes is not particularly interesting, with a couple of exceptions. It gets the points across to keep the plot moving. Hopefully if and when we get our hands on the Winds of Winter book we will see the sort of witty and well thought conversations we appreciate.
 
I wonder if the TV programme, now that it has passed the point of the books has led to GRRM feeling less rushed than ever.
The TV programme is now hurtling like a steam train to a conclusion (relative to the written word at least,) why not let it come to an end in anyway it deems suitable.
Let the dust settle.
And then quietly tell the end of the story he always wanted to tell, for the legions of book lovers that will eagerly read it - to wash away the inevitably weak tasting, mass produced, consumer satisfying ending the TV show will leave behind.

I hope he keeps his health (not just for the story, obviously) so he can finish what he started - in peace.
 
It could be like that. Though I think the major points of the ending will have been agreed on.
 
Apparently, Martin outlined the main plot points and resolution of the story when he first sat down with the producers to create the TV show. Though given Martin's improvisational approach to writing, I suspect it was a short conversation.
 
MWagner said:
Apparently, Martin outlined the main plot points and resolution of the story when he first sat down with the producers to create the TV show. Though given Martin's improvisational approach to writing, I suspect it was a short conversation.
Click to expand...

Tbh, considering his approach to writing, it is doubtful how much of that will make it into the book ending. As he himself says, everytime you make a change, it creates a ripple which then grows into a hurricane and as he keeps changing things, it is highly unlikely that the ending will not be impacted.
 
It makes full sense that the TV series writers would have known the end for their own version of the story. That is to say they'd have had Martins idealised general big end and will have aimed toward that. What I think Martin has changes in is likely not the big end events but more a lot of the little things that lead up to it. Of course sometimes, as said, those little things snowball into changing big parts of the end.

It's a lesson to other writers about the risks of freeform writing and of publishing before you've finished or without a strict plan in place. I still have hope in Martin, its just taking a while. If anything the internet makes it worse and better. In the past you'd have likely put the books down and forgotten about them so the wait wouldn't have seemed as bad - with the internet it keeps reminding you. Conversely without the net you might forget all about them for so long that they'd be published whilst you weren't looking.
 
It seems to me that his best course (if he has insufficient time or inclination to finish himself) would be to employ someone else to finish writing it (the scriptwriters from the TV series are doing an okay job.) Publishing it a year after the TV series finishes is not going to help its sales, and it sounds like his heart is really in the new book anyway, so it has only become a chore. Would fans dislike the involvement of other writers? If he isn't fully committed a fresh mind might actually improve it. He can't be worried financially, since the quicker both books appear the better for sales. Do you think that in 10-15 years time these will still be bestsellers? Possibly, but quite possibly not.
 
I think when the next book does come out there will be midnight openings of WHSmiths and Waterstones to cater for the queues going up high streets
 
George's latest blog suggests he is actually going to be concentrating on work for a while. Not a surprise that he is overwhelmed with the amount of work he has. It would be great to think Winds of Winter is one of the monkeys on his back he wants to finish but I suspect it must be short term projects he is getting through.


  • Mar. 5th, 2018 at 12:24 PM

All's good, boys and girls... lots of exciting things going on.

LOTS of exciting things.

Maybe too many. I am buried in work, so much that it is starting to overwhelm me. Even with my army of loyal minions.

So I am going to step back from blogging -- okay, from NOT-a-blogging -- for a while, till I get a few of these monkeys off my back.

In the near future, you'll likely see fewer posts here. And some of those will be by my minions.

I'll return eventually. Just don't know when.

See ya later, alligators.
 
From the man himself:

'No, winter is not coming… not in 2018, at least. You’re going to have to keep waiting for THE WINDS OF WINTER.'

Taken from his Notablog. He does go on to say:

'Archmaester Gyldayn is hanging up his quill for a while. As for me, I’m returning once again to THE WINDS OF WINTER.'
 
It feels like he is enjoying his millions and screw the fans. my wife and I have lost interest in the show, we havent even watched the last 3 episodes of the latest season, and that was about 9 months ago.
 
To be honest he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would think like that. Be distracted by things for sure and it might well be that he has needed a break from his writing (writers block hits everyone). But I don't think he's got the mindset of someone who has cashed in and run off with the money.

Also sometimes the sudden huge fame and money can overwhelm people. Granted he's not getting it as bad as some major Hollywood superstars, but it can be quite a sudden change for people.
 
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