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George R.R. Martin Says The Winds Of Winter Will Be Done By July 2020


Credit: HBO

It looks like George R.R. Martin is determined to stick to his deadline no matter what. The A Song of Ice and Fire author has declared that fans are allowed to "imprison" him if he still doesn't finish The Winds of Winter next year.

Martin had previously been given an odd proposal from Air New Zealand inviting him to complete the highly anticipated novel in the country. The Game of Thrones author admits that he was moved by the gesture but claims that he might be too distracted by the beautiful place to finish The Winds of Winter. He did, however, confirm he will be in New Zealand for the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in Wellington in summer 2020.

With that in mind, Martin gave himself the ultimate deadline along with some rather dark conditions.

"I tell you this — if I don't have THE WINDS OF WINTER in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for Worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I'm done. Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I'll be fine."

Worldcon takes place between July 29 to August 2, 2020 so this could mean that The Winds of Winter will finally be published by July next year. This means that Martin has a full year to finish the book and send it off for publication.

We're certainly crossing our fingers this time. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

Related: Game of Thrones Prequel Series to Feature Casterly Rock, But No Lannisters… Yet

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