Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin confirmed that he will have the sixth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire saga, The Winds of Winter, completed by summer 2020.
Martin wrote on his Not A Blog, that he will be attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Wellington in the summer of 2020 and noted that he has been asked to serve as Toastmaster for the Hugo Awards at the event.
He would go on to state that The Winds of Winter would be completed by the time he arrives at the World Science Fiction Convention in the summer of 2020.
“But I tell you this — if I don’t have THE WINDS OF WINTER in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done. Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I’ll be fine. “
The 78th World Science Fiction Convention will take place between Wednesday, July 29th and Sunday, August 2nd in 2020.
Earlier this week we reported on a rumor that the book would be in print by December 2020. In fact, the rumor indicated that Martin had already completed the book.
Martin had previously addressed a rumor that he had completed both The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring years ago. He wrote, “I will, however, say for the record — no, THE WINDS OF WINTER and A DREAM OF SPRING are not finished. DREAM is not even begun; I am not going to start writing volume seven until I finish volume six.”
He added, “No, the books are not done. HBO did not ask me to delay them. Nor did David & Dan. There is no “deal” to hold back on the books. I assure you, HBO and David & Dan would both have been thrilled and delighted if THE WINDS OF WINTER had been delivered and published four or five years ago… and NO ONE would have been more delighted than me.”
Martin did not provide on an update on when fans would be able to get their hands on A Dream of Spring.
Are you looking forward to getting your hands on The Winds of Winter? How far along in the process do you think Martin is? Do you think he’s in the editing phase or do you think he’s still adding to the story?