Game of Thrones author knows the next book is late, says fans can be vicious

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has acknowledged the frustration about the next book's lateness, saying impatient fans can be "vicious."

Indeed, the next entry in the acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series, on which HBO's Game of Thrones and upcoming House of the Dragon series are based, is very late. George R.R. Martin began work on the novel in 2010 just ahead of the release of the most recent book, A Dance with Dragons. It was originally planned for release back in 2016, and then in 2017, and then just... whenever it's done.

Naturally, fans are eager to read the penultimate book in the series, especially after the oft-maligned final season of Game of Thrones. And perhaps unsurprisingly, those fans can be pretty brutal.

"I get [that] Winds of Winter, the sixth book is late," Martin said on the Coupledom podcast recently (thanks GameSpot). "I can get a hundred good comments, but there's still gonna be a few fans out there who are gonna remind me of it on my blog or whatever. I say, 'Happy Thanksgiving!' And they say, 'Never mind Thanksgiving, where's the book?!'"

Martin says he appreciates his fans generally, but admits that social media has teased out some of their more ruthless impulses. "I love the fans, although I do think Twitter and the internet and social media has brought out a viciousness I never saw in the old days," he said. "The love and hate are very close, particularly with comic books or any established franchises."

Martin didn't provide an update on The Winds of Winter's release, but we know he wrote "hundreds of pages" in 2020 and had hoped to have it done last year, so it's reasonable to expect an update on that front soon.

In the meantime, keep yourself occupied with the best TV shows to watch now.