George R.R. Martin, the author of “Winds of Winter” and a perennial updater, has just announced that he has an update, just two months after swearing off providing updates on the book.
On Tuesday, the creator of the “Game of Thrones” universe appeared on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” where he gave an update on the long-awaited “The Winds of Winter,” the sixth book in the wildly popular “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.
Martin had previously stated that he would no longer provide book updates but agreed to Colbert’s request.
He stated that he is working on “The Winds of Winter,” but it is not yet finished. He stated that the book would be quite large.
He explained that the third volume, “A Storm of Swords,” and the fifth volume, “A Dance With Dragons,” were the two largest books to date. Both were around 1,500 pages long, but this one will be longer, which feels like he’s saying people should forgive him for taking so long. Nonetheless, he stated that he is about three-quarters of the way through.
It’s huge news that it’s 75% finished.
Martin worked on “The Winds of Winter” for about ten years, but he also worked on other books, including “The Rise of the Dragon,” an illustrated chronicle of the House Targaryen, which was released on Tuesday.
Martin revealed that he has finished writing a few of the characters and talked about his progress. He stated that he had finished the stories of a few characters but not the others and mentioned that all the characters are intertwined. The author explained that he must finish all the weaving so that it would take him some more time.
Martin believes he understands how readers will react when the book is released; look for “The Dream of Spring?”
In the same interview, Colbert asked Martin why he thought science fiction works released in the last few decades tended to focus so heavily on humanity’s demise and dystopian collapse.
Martin asserted that science fiction reflects people’s fears, recalling how books in the 1950s dealt with the possibility of nuclear war and a zombie apocalypse.
He told Colbert:
“Suddenly nuclear war seems more and more feasible again. It’s back there. We may have a nuclear war. And we have new pandemic diseases that are wiping us out.”
He said:
“Can we be optimistic about climate change? What are we going to do if Putin actually does use nuclear bombs?”