Winter is coming. Eventually. `The Winds of Winter is not finished. It`ll be done when it`s done.` That`s what 70-year-old author George R.R. Martin has been telling his legions of patient fans, in numerous ways, for going on eight years. Martin, of course, is the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the fantasy book series that HBO adapted into Game of Thrones. He is, needless to say, a notoriously slow writer.When Game of Thrones debuted on HBO in April 2011, four out of seven planned books were already on shelves. Fans hoped Martin would finish writing all seven books before the TV show caught up to him, and the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, was released in July 2011. But since then, there have been no new novels in the core series. We`re still waiting on the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, not to mention the seventh book after that, A Dream of Spring. And meanwhile, the show not only caught up with the books--it passed them. And the show`s final season is set to air in 2019.Martin says that he`s constantly working on The Winds of Winter. But progress is slow; the TV show overtook the book series in 2016, and it`s been sailing through uncharted waters ever since. When it concludes in 2019, fans will get an ending to a book saga begun over 20 years ago--but the show`s ending, not the one envisioned by this world`s creator. And that stings.Martin has been writing The Winds of Winter for nearly as long as the entire HBO series has been airing. And as he continues delaying its publication and signing on to other various projects, the possibility of seeing this magnum opus in print grows smaller. Here, for your dark-humored amusement and chagrin, is a history of George R.R. Martin promising to finish The Winds of Winter.Winter is coming. Eventually. When it`s ready. But not this year. Maybe next. 1. 100 Pages Done (2010) Technically speaking, Martin started writing The Winds of Winter before A Dance with Dragons was finished; he decided to move a chapter ...
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