george r r martin
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

We’re still waiting to hear a release date for the next installment of “A Song of Ice and Fire” but now George R.R. Martin is sharing why ‘The Winds of Winter‘ has been taking so long. Fans are well aware at how long of a lapse there has been between titles as ‘A Dance with Dragons’ was released in 2011. It has been seven years so far and isn’t clear if the next outing will even be released in 2019. The worst part for many is that there is still a seventh book planned for the series to be titled ‘A Dream of Spring’ which one has to hope the author has been working on in conjunction with the next release.

As to why we’ve seen much of Martin’s other work being released but ‘The Winds of Winter’ not yet hitting bookshelves? Martin explains:

“I’ve been struggling with it for a few years. The Winds of Winter is not so much a novel as a dozen novels, each with a different protagonist, each having a different cast of supporting players and antagonists and allies and lovers around them, and all of these weaving together in an extremely complex fashion. So it’s very, very challenging. Fire and Blood, by contrast, was very simple. Not that it’s easy, it still took me years to put together, but it is easier.”

While hard at work trying to get the puzzle pieces of ‘The Winds of Winter’ to properly fit together, the author has been quite busy elsewhere as well. We know that he has released a quote collection, novellas, and other supplemental material. On the television side, Martin has been involved with ‘Game of Thrones,’ is an executive producer on HBO’s upcoming ‘Who Fears Death’, has ‘Nightflyers’ being released by Syfy based on his novella by the same name, and has made cameos as himself on both ‘Z Nation’ and ‘Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!’

I don’t think we even need to mention how involved he’s been in for the upcoming ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel series.

Do you feel that weaving these various narratives together is what has kept George R.R. Martin from finishing ‘The Winds of Winter’? Have you been hoping that the famed author might slow down in his other ventures to finally finish this novel? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Source: io9