George R. R. Martin has responded to the ongoing criticism surrounding the progress of The Winds of Winter, the planned sixth novel in his fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, telling Game of Thrones fans: "you have given up on me."
Last week, Martin became involved in the production of an upcoming animated Hercules film, his latest extracurricular activity that does not involve working on the long-awaited The Winds of Winter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin will serve as a producer on the project, which adapts the classic Greek myth of Hercules' twelve labors. Titled A Dozen Tough Jobs, the movie will reinterpret the story from the viewpoint of a farmer in 1920s Mississippi.
In a blog post, Martin addressed the reaction to this news from Game of Thrones fans, which has been overwhelmingly negative.
I understand, I understand. Some of you are just going to be upset by this, as you are by every announcement I make here that isn't about Westeros or THE WINDS OF WINTER. You've given up on me, or on the book. I'll never finish WINDS. Even if I do, I'll never complete A DREAM OF SPRING. And if I manage that, it won't be any good. I should just get another writer to step in for me... I'm going to die soon anyway, because I'm so old. I lost all interest in A Song of Ice and Fire decades ago. I don't care about writing anymore; I just sit around spending my money. I edit the Wild Cards series too, but you hate Wild Cards. You probably hate everything else I've ever written—the Hugo winners and losers, “A Song for Lya” and DYING OF THE LIGHT, “Sandkings” and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, “This Tower of Ashes” and “The Stone City,” OLD MARS and OLD VENUS and ROGUES and WARRIORS and DANGEROUS WOMEN and all the other anthologies I edited with my friend Gardner Dozois. You don't care about any of that, I know. The only thing you care about is THE WINDS OF WINTER. You've told me that often enough).
The truth is, I do care about them.
And I care about Westeros and WINDS too. The Starks and Lannisters and Targaryens, Tyrion and Asha, Dany and Daenerys, the dragons and the direwolves—I care about them all, more than you can possibly imagine.
I loved “A Dozen Tough Jobs” the first time I read it, years ago. I loved Howard as well. It saddens me that he didn't live to see the film; I hope we do his work justice. How could we not? Hercules, Howard, Joe, Lion Forge... I wish you all could share my excitement about this movie.
Martin then directed his readers to the A Dozen Tough Jobs announcement “for those who are interested.”
The Winds of Winter, the next installment in Martin's long-running A Song of Ice and Fire series, still does not have a release date. In fact, it has been nearly 14 years since A Dance with Dragons was published in July 2011.
The 76-year-old author still intends for the highly anticipated next book to be followed by another, A Dream of Spring, to conclude the series—something the Game of Thrones TV adaptation did not wait for, although with mixed outcomes.
While readers continue to wait, Martin has remained active. The writer has been involved, to varying degrees, in several other Game of Thrones television spin-offs, including the successful House of the Dragon, as well as fictional historical novels set in the franchise's world.
And, of course, Martin has also explored the video game industry—contributing backstory for Elden Ring.
In September 2024, Martin acknowledged on his blog that "television projects consumed most of the first half" of the previous year, preventing him from making significant writing progress. So, when can we expect The Winds of Winter? Not anytime soon, as Martin confirmed just last month.
In a post dated April 7, 2025, Martin expressed his frustration, stating he was "so tired of having to issue denials every time some casual remark of mine, usually having nothing to do with WINDS, somehow leads half the internet to believe the book is about to be released. It's not. No."
