The wait for The Winds of Winter is about to overtake the time it took to release the first five Game of Thrones books

One George R.R. Martin fan has realized the wait for The Winds of Winter is about to surpass the wait for all five A Song of Ice and Fire books combined, and fans are just about coping.

As any Game of Thrones fan will tell you, the wait for The Winds of Winter has lasted far longer than expected. Some have given up hope entirely that the book, the penultimate in Martin's extraordinary A Song of Ice and Fire series, will ever arrive, while others remain optimistic.

"The wait for Winds is about to surpass the wait for [the] first 5 books combined!" one fan posted on Reddit, and, indeed, they're right. A Game of Thrones was published on August 1, 1996, and the latest book in the series, A Dance With Dragons, was published on July 12, 2011. That's a wait of 15 years for five books (or 14 years and 11 months, if you're being precise). As of April 2026, The Winds of Winter still hasn't arrived – meaning we've been waiting almost 15 years for the second-to-last chapter.

Back in January, Martin gave an update on The Winds of Winter to The Hollywood Reporter, stressing that he still wants to complete the book. "I would hate that," Martin said of the possibility of giving up. "It would feel like a total failure to me. I want to finish."

He again indicated that the ending of the book series won't be the same as the show. "[The book's ending is] going to be significantly different," he shared. "Some characters who are alive in my book are going to be dead in the show, and vice versa."

Still, while there might not be a new book, there's plenty more Westeros coming to the screen. A movie was recently reported to be in development, while House of the Dragon season 3 is coming this summer. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 2 is also arriving next year, chronicling the next chapter in the tale of Dunk the hedge knight and his squire Egg.

Plus Game of Thrones: The Mad King stage play opens in the UK's Stratford-upon-Avon this summer; the play will depict the tourney at Harrenhal, which saw Rhaegar Targaryen crown Lyanna Stark the queen of love and beauty, a crucial event in the lead-up to Robert's Rebellion.

For everything on the way, check out our guide to all the upcoming Game of Thrones movies and TV shows.