The last book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011. Since then, an entire TV series adaptation, Game of Thrones, has been released by HBO. Fans have been patiently awaiting updates on the next book in the series, The Winds of Winter, but nothing official has been revealed just yet.
Now, a new update from George RR Martin himself has revealed what he has in store for the world next.
Over the weekend it was announced Martin will be teaming up with legendary comic book publisher Marvel. The American author expressed “no end of joy” about joining the franchise in an upcoming series based on his own novel series Wild Cards. Martin helmed and edited this superhero franchise over the past 30 years.
These alternate history stories have spanned more than 25 novels and 20 short stories through 40 authors and was originally based on a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) called Superworld.
Martin told his followers: “As my fans may already know, the Wild Cards World holds a special place in my heart. So to have the privilege of announcing that an industry titan like Marvel is going to produce the narrative from the beginning as a comic book brings me no end of joy.” This will be the first Marvel adaptation of the series and will arrive later this year.
But now fans have become worried about whether this new project will push back The Winds of Winter even further.
READ MORE: Winds of Winter: George RR Martin offers hope on Game of Thrones book
Speaking out on Twitter, many fans were not happy. Paul Carr wrote: “He wants to try finishing Winds of Winter. Lost a lot of respect for him as a writer, hes milked the millions out of GOT and now doesn’t care about the fans of the books that made it popular in the first place.” (sic)
Tony said: “Oh wow, yet another thing he’s doing instead of finishing The Winds of Winter? Could he just be honest at this point and say he’s never going to finish it?” (sic)
Tyler Fairy added: “He will do anything and I mean ANYTHING but finish that damn book.” (sic)
Martin’s latest update about The Winds of Winter came in November when he was speaking about the effect the Game of Thrones series had on his life. He recalled “begging” a HBO executive to have the show run for ten seasons with ten episodes each, in order to hit a more “satisfying” ending.
He then touched upon his new book’s ending, saying: “I’m working on The Winds of Winter even now as I have been for the best part of a decade. And hopefully I’m going to get to that end soon and then people can argue about which ending they like better.”
The Winds of Winter does not yet have a release date.