Winds of Winter: George RR Martin gives update on next Game of Thrones book

But while the HBO series has now finished and has moved into spin-offs, Martin still has two books to go to finish his seven-volume epic.

He’s been working on The Winds of Winter for more than a decade, and is said to have more than a thousand manuscript pages written. He had previously said that he hoped to get it out in 2021. It’s not known how much - if any - of A Dream of Spring has been written.

It’s now been 14 years since the fifth book of the series was published, and almost 30 years since the first.

1. A Game of Thrones (1996)
2. A Clash of Kings (1998)
3. A Storm of Swords (2000)
4. A Feast for Crows (2005)
5. A Dance with Dragons (2011)
6. The Winds of Winter
7. A Dream of Spring

Writing on his blog, Martin, now 76, has mentioned the book, which is one of the most eagerly awaited in the publishing world.

He has welcomed the completion of the television programme A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. This was a three-novella comprised of The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003) and The Mystery Knight (2010), which were prequels to the Sing of Fire and Ice series. They feature Dunk - the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall - and Egg, who would go on to become King Aegon V Targaryen, 90 years before the Game of Thrones events.

On the blog Martin wrote: “The series will make its debut late this year, I am now told. How late, I could not say. Maybe in the fall. I hope you will love the show as much as I do. Meanwhile, we’ll be moving on to “The Sworn Sword,” the second tale of Dunk & Egg. And once I finish The Winds of Winter, I will need to get hopping on The Village Hero, and all the other tales that await the lads.”

So the Winds of Winter remains on his to-do list but still, no firm date has been given for its completion, leaving fans of Westeros and Essos on tenterhooks for a little bit longer.

In 2013 Martin said that both he and his wife Parris thought that if he died before finishing the Song of Fire and Ice series they would not want another author to finish his work. However, at another point he said that if he ever knew that he did not have long left to live, he would consider writing detailed notes on the novels for someone else to finish.