Published Jun 8, 2026, 11:55 AM EDT
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You know the old saying that you wait forever for a bus, then two come along at once? Yeah, that doesn’t apply here. Now, there are long waits and there is waiting for The Winds of Winter. George R. R. Martin’s long-awaited sixth A Song of Ice and Fire novel. Now one of the most famous unfinished books in history, partly because the story it covers was already adapted into 8 seasons of a successful television show, which actually* had an ending* (even if nobody liked it), asking when the book will arrive is less of a question and more of a joke. However, The Winds of Winter just hit a pretty big milestone.
On June 21, 2026, the gap between the release of A Dance with Dragons and the present day will officially become longer than the gap between the publication of A Game of Thrones and A Dance with Dragons. A Game of Thrones, the first book in Martin’s series, was published on August 1, 1996, while A Dance with Dragons, the fifth and most recent novel, arrived on July 12, 2011. That’s a gap of 5,458 days. So on June 21, that’ll mean another 5,458 days will have passed since A Dance with Dragons hit shelves, meaning fans will have waited longer for The Winds of Winter than they waited for the first five books combined. Forgive us as we stare out of a window into the abyss now, because that is painful.
As you may have ascertained by this point, no, The Winds of Winter still has no confirmed release date. Martin has given progress updates over the years, and the book remains planned as the penultimate entry in A Song of Ice and Fire, with A Dream of Spring intended to follow it, although he did recently admit there’s some days he just can’t be bothered. While we respect the honestly, we feel that this may also be enormously depressing to process should that turn out to be the case.
It’s even more infuriating because it’s not like Martin and his epic world haven’t continued entertaining fans. The series has spawned multiple prequels and spin-offs, with Fire & Blood spawning HBO’s House of the Dragon, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiering this year. Of course, we got an ending on the television show, but for those of us who began reading the books decades ago, The Winds of Winter remains the next real step.
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2011 - 2019-00-00
David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff
D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, David Benioff
Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.