As we enter 2020, it’s been almost a full decade since George RR Martin last published a volume of his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Game of Thrones finished last year having overtaken the 71-year-old’s book narrative two seasons prior. Yet with the New Year we still don’t have a release date for The Winds of Winter and the fans are getting impatient.
One fan took to the A Song of Ice and Fire Reddit page to vent their annoyance, seeing almost 2000 upvotes from equally miffed readers.
Joy-Through-Syphilis wrote: “Another year has passed and we still haven’t received TWOW from GRRM.
“Anyone else have a dark, seething existential crisis about wasted time towards a series with little to no probability of being finished?”
However, in the comments, one popular post suggested being content with the idea that the series may never be completed.
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Inderjalli wrote: “Maybe this journey will just end and no other books will be completed.
“Maybe we will not learn any more about Jon, Dany, or Arya, and we won’t get to close that last page.
“I’m happy to have been on it.
“It’s been a really great journey, even if it ends the way our lives sometimes do, leaving the rest of us grasping at straws.”
However, BryndenBFish doubts The Winds of Winter will be published before Martin’s personal deadline.
Express.co.uk polled hundreds of fans to discover whether they think he will meet that deadline and most doubted.
The question asked: “Will George RR Martin meet his summer 2020 deadline for The Winds of Winter’s publication?”, with two options of “Yes” and “No”.
Hundreds took part in the poll and 42% think he will meet the deadline, but 58% reckon he will miss it.
Martin has a history of missing his A Song of Ice and Fire deadlines, so this shouldn’t be surprising that fans aren’t holding their breath.
In fact, the author has previously said how he doesn’t want to share another deadline as he risks disappointing fans.
After The Winds of Winter, the author has said he will pen his fourth Dunk and Egg short story before tackling the final novel in A Song of Ice and Fire, A Dream of Spring.
Following that, he’ll write a fifth Dunk and Egg tale before beginning his second volume of Fire and Blood, his three hundred year history of the Targaryen dynasty.