Winds of winter

2014

• On May 29, George Martin’s editor Anna Groell stated the following regarding the release date of the book: “I can only say that George has a lot of hard work to do, and we hope that the book will be published soon” ^{[18] [19]} .

• In July, George Martin announced that he would not be a screenwriter in the fifth season of the television series, as he needed to focus on writing “Winds of Winter” ^[20] .

• Jane Johnson, Martin’s book editor at HarperCollins in an interview with The Guardian in March, said there was no planned release date for the book yet, and that it should be expected no earlier than 2015. Later, she called the rumors about the planned release of the book in the spring of 2015 “wishful thinking” ^{[21] [22]} .

• On November 20, George Martin reported on the situation with “Winds of Winter”: “I am still somewhere in the middle of the book, so I still have time to write scenes in which they die” ^[23] .

2015

• In January, Johnson reported that the publisher’s plans for 2015 did not include “Winds of Winter”. The book was supposed to be released in 2016 ^{[24] [25]} .

• In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in April, George Martin announced that he intended to complete the “Winds of Winter” before the start of the sixth season of the series “ Game of Thrones ” ^[26] .

• On September 9, Spanish editor Aleggio Cuervo announced that the book “The Winds of Winter” will definitely be released in 2016 ^[27] .

• In late September, George Martin said in an interview that he was “still writing” a book ^{[28] [29]} .

2016

• In January, George Martin announced that he would not be able to complete the book before the start of the season 6 show ^[30] , starting with which the series is ahead of the book cycle in the plot ^[31] .

• At the end of January, George Martin discussed with the creators of the series the plot lines of the seventh season ^{[32] [33]} . In February, David Benioff and Daniel Weiss confirmed that work on the script for season 7 has already begun, despite the fact that the series has not yet been extended for season 7 ^[34] .

• On February 12, George R. R. Martin wrote on his blog that he would not be the screenwriter of one of ten episodes of the seventh season (as well as in the 5th and 6th seasons). George Martin also wrote that he would not write scripts until he completed the book Winds of Winter ^{[35] [36]} .

• On April 5, George Martin stated that he was completely focused on writing the book “The Winds of Winter” and would try to complete it as soon as possible ^[37] .

• On April 27, George Martin wrote on his blog that some of the characters who died in the series can stay alive in books, and if they die, it is not necessarily the same as in the series ^[38] .

• On May 10, after the publication of the spoiler chapter, George Martin wrote in his LJ that the book was not yet ready ^[39] .

• In August, George R. R. Martin wrote on his blog that the novel is not yet complete ^[40] .

2017

• On January 9, rumors appeared that George Martin would not publish new spoiler chapters in 2017. The volume of this book will be approximately the same as that of the book "Dance with the Dragons" ^[41] .

• On May 14 ^[42] and July 13 ^[43], Martin announced that he was still writing a book and would continue to work until he completed the novel.

• On July 22, Martin wrote in his LJ that he writes two books in parallel: “Winds of Winter” and “Flames and Blood”, which is why he hopes to release a novel in 2018 ^[44] .

• October 10, at the time of the release of the story “Sons of the Dragon,” George Martin continues to work on the book ^[45] .

2018

• On February 6, rumors appeared that publishers did not rule out the release of this book after the series ended, that is, no earlier than May 2019 ^{[46] [47] [48]} .
• On February 15, it was confirmed that Martin was not going to release the book in 2018, since the first volume of Flame and Blood will be released in November 2018 ^[49] . The release of this book, as promised by the author, will take place in 2019 ^{[50] [51] [52]} .
• On April 25, George Martin confirmed in his LiveJournal that the first volume of Flame and Blood will be released on November 20, 2018, and that the book Wind of Winter will be released in 2019 ^[53] .
• On June 12, George Martin, after writing the script for the prequel to the Game of Thrones series, jointly with Jane Goldman, stated that work on the “Winds of Winter” continues and remains his top priority ^{[54] [55] [56]} .
• On August 19, at the Worldcon 2018 festival, George Martin announced that he was continuing to work on “Winds of Winter”. According to him, the first volume of “Flame and Blood” will be released ahead of schedule, and the second volume will be released after the completion of “Winds of Winter” and “Dreaming of Spring” ^[57] .
• On November 5, George Martin, talking about the spin-offs of the Game of Thrones series, announced that he was continuing to work on the book Winds of Winter ^{[58] [59]} . After the release of the first volume, Flames and Blood, he intends to complete his work on The Winds of Winter without being distracted by work on his other books ^{[60] [61] [62]} .
• On December 10, George Martin wrote in his LJ that he intends to complete the “Song of Ice and Fire” cycle. He did not rule out the possibility that this book could be published the following year after the completion of the series ^{[63] [64]} .

2019

• On March 6, after the trailer was released for the final season of the series, George Martin announced that this book would be released after the series ended ^[65] .
• On April 8, George Martin announced that he was still working on this book. Recent seasons of the series will not affect the content of the final books ^[66] .
• On May 13, Martin announced that “The Winds of Winter” has not yet been completed, and he will not start the next book until he finishes this ^[67] .
• On May 21, after the series finale was released, George Martin refused to answer the question of whether the story in his books would develop in the same way as in the series. He also promised to finish the “Winds of Winter” soon, confirming that the volume of the handwritten text will be approximately 1,500 pages (corresponding to the volume of the “ Game of Thrones ”) ^{[68] [69]} .
• On May 22, Martin wrote on his blog that he hoped to appear in the summer of 2020 in New Zealand at Worldcon with a finished book ^[70] .

As in the previous books of the series, the narration in the novel is conducted from a third person, from the point of view of different characters, while there are several disjoint storylines.

• The book is also a continuation of the fourth book ( Vulture Feast ), since Sansa Stark (Aleina Stone) ^{[71] [72]} and Ayron Wethead (Abandoned) ^{[73] [74] were} absent in the fifth book (“ Dance of the Vultures ”) . In the fifth novel, Brienne Tart , Samwell Tarley and Arianna Martell appeared, ^{[71] [75] [76] [39]} however, not as POVs, ^[77] but as secondary characters. Initially, the chapters of these POVs were supposed to be present in the book “ Dance with the Dragons, ” but later they were transferred to the sixth book of the cycle “ Song of Ice and Fire, ” called “Winds of Winter”. Also in this book, Theon Greyjoy , ^{[78] [79]} Victarion Greyjoy, ^{[80] [81]} Barristan Selmi, ^{[82] [83]} Tyrion Lannister ^{[80] [84] [85]} and Arya Stark (Mercy) will be POVs for sure. ), ^{[71] [86] [87]} since their spoiler chapters have already been either published or read out by George Martin. Martin also confirmed on his blog the appearance of Areo Hotach as a POW in Dorn ^[88] and Cersei Lannister ^[89] as a POW in Royal Harbor ^[90] . Asha Greyjoy is a POV, on behalf of whom the narrative of events in the North is conducted, namely, the Battle of Snow (the battle of Stannis Baratheon against the Boltons for Winterfell) ^[91] . John Snow appears in this book as a POV in the North ^[92] . Also in the book, POWs will definitely be Daenerys Targaryen ^[93] , Davos Seaworth ^[94] and John Connington ^[95] . In December 2016, George Martin announced that Jaime Lannister , Melisandra ^[96] and Bran Stark ^[97] in this book will be POVs. George Martin does not intend to introduce new POVs into the book ^[98] , with the exception of two chapters of the book - Prologue and Epilogue. Thus, the POVs who survived at the end of the book “ Dance with the Dragons ” will appear in this book ^{[99] [100] [101]} .
• The action in the book will begin with the completion of the cliffhangers : the battle in Mierin, the war in the North, the duel in Royal Harbor, deciding the fate of Cersei Lannister. George R. R. Martin also said the Others would return in the book. Perhaps the book will reveal the secret of the origin of John Snow ^[37] . According to George Martin, Heartless will play an important role in this book ^{[102] [103] [104] [105]} .