George R.R. Martin hopes Winds of Winter will be finished next year but there’s "a long way to go"

The world may have undergone several major shifts in recent months but one thing remains eternal: George R.R. Martin is still writing Winds of Winter. The sixth (and penultimate) book in the Song of Ice and Fire series still doesn’t have a set release date, though the author has given a major update on how it’s progressing.

“If nothing else, the enforced isolation has helped me write. I am spending long hours every day on The Winds of Winter, and making steady progress,” Martin wrote on his personal blog. “I finished a new chapter yesterday, another one three days ago, another one the previous week. But no, this does not mean that the book will be finished tomorrow or published next week. It’s going to be a huge book, and I still have a long way to go.”

While the undertaking remains massive, Martin offered up a message of hope for those hoping to catch up on events covered in part by Game of Thrones season 8.

Expressing regret at not being able to attend CoNZealand, he said, “I can always visit Wellington next year, when I hope that both Covid-19 and The Winds of Winter will be done.”

So, still very much TBD on Martin’s part, though work is getting done. That’s a start. The Game of Thrones prequel, The House of the Dragon, is also still “flying along wonderfully” and being written by Ryan Condal and his staff of writers.

2020 has offered up many strange and significant developments, but Winds of Winter hitting bookshelves won’t be one of them. Still, the future of Westeros is looking perhaps brighter than it did yesterday.

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