George R.R. Martin calls unfinished Game of Thrones novel “the curse of my life”

George R.R. Martin has reignited concerns about his unfinished Game of Thrones novel, The Winds of Winter, calling the project “the curse of my life.”

The novel – the sixth and penultimate entry to Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series – has been in the works for 13 years now, with fans growing increasingly frustrated about the wait (some have even started using ChatGPT to finish it). 

Part of the delay has been due to his ongoing work with HBO to expand the Game of Thrones TV universe, with spinoffs like House of the Dragon and others in development filling up his schedule. 

Another reason is due to his rewrites. Martin’s been vocal about the fact that the writing process hasn’t been easy, but The Winds of Winter remains the holy grail for fans of the fantasy franchise. 

George R.R. Martin addresses delay on Game of Thrones’ The Winds of Winter

In a conversation with Time, Martin gave an update on the book, saying, “That’s the curse of my life here. There’s no doubt Winds of Winter is 13 years late. 

“I’m still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention, and suddenly I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows.”

Even though Martin has acknowledged the delay, he also defended himself and his schedule. You see, earlier this month, scientists announced that dire wolves – the animals made famous by Game of Thrones – had been brought back from extinction. 

Martin was invited to come and meet the three new dire wolf pups, who were created by Colossal Biosciences using cloning and gene-editing methods. 

When asking for an update on the book, the Times interviewer pointed out the comments from fans that “we got real dire wolves before we got The Winds of Winter.”

Martin responded, “But, you know, the two things are not connected. I swear, I open a bookstore and people say, ‘Why is George R.R. Martin opening a bookstore when he could be writing Winds of Winter?’

“I don’t actually work in the bookstore. I own it, I hire people to do it. If you go into the bookstore, yes a lot of my books are in there, which I signed, [but there are] a lot of books by other people.

HBO

“I’m not gonna ring up the register. I’m not gonna order what books are coming in. I have a theater. I’m not the projectionist. They seem to overestimate how much time I’m putting in these things. 

“I own stocks and bonds too. I don’t attend the shareholder meetings. I’m not on the board of directors. I’ve invested in something, and sometimes the stock goes up and I make money, and sometimes it’s like now, and suddenly I lose a lot of money. It’s not me running it. 

“You’ve heard exactly what role I played in the dire wolf thing. I’m sitting at home. I might’ve been working on Winds of Winter or one of the screenplays, and suddenly Peter Jackson’s on the line. 

“And I hear about this and I travel out to see it – probably the trip was like four days… and it did not seriously impinge on the writing on Winds of Winter. But people make it seem, my more fanatic fans, as if it’s one or the other. And it’s not.”

For more on Martin’s fantasy franchise, check out our ranking of the best Game of Thrones dragons, every Targaryen king in order, and everything we know about A Knight of Seven Kingdoms.