40

I enjoy the Game of Thrones TV Series, and am ready to try the books.

However, having waited over 15 years for Stephen King to finish The Dark Tower; I would like to know when the entire series will be available.

This question has two parts:

1. How many books are planned for the entire series?
2. When will they be finished?

Edlothiad
  • 77,282
  • 32
  • 393
  • 381
user16493
  • 535
  • 4
  • 5

1 Answers1

51

There are supposed to be a total of 7 books in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. But could grow to 8. Originally it was going to be a trilogy, then grew to 4, then 6, then 7... And it could be a long wait! Here's the chronology so far:

  1. A Game of Thrones August 1996
  2. A Clash of Kings February 1999
  3. A Storm of Swords November 2000
  4. A Feast for Crows November 2005
  5. A Dance with Dragons July 2011
  6. The Winds of Winter (Forthcoming)
  7. A Dream of Spring (Forthcoming)
Paul D. Waite
  • 32,172
  • 20
  • 133
  • 197
Dan Seibert
  • 767
  • 6
  • 4
  • 5
    for comparison, The Wheel of Time series was "supposed to be" 3 books, then 6, then 12 books and ended up being 14. So, it will end up being as many books as the author feels he needs to finish the story (or, if you're more the cynical type, as many as he can get paid for.) – KutuluMike Aug 09 '13 at 16:56
  • 1
    In the 2012 interview where GRRM guesstimated 2014, he implied that his guess may be optimistic: "I really look forward to publishing it in 2014, but I am really bad for predictions...." – sjl Aug 09 '13 at 17:17
  • 2
    Books 4 and 5 clearly indicate that GRRM is going to spin this out as long as he possibly can. – Gaius Apr 10 '14 at 19:04
  • There are probably going to be books until he dies, He will never give this up. The series is to popular, its like Harry Potter with grossness. – Pobrecita Jun 16 '14 at 16:40
  • Still 73 days left for The Winds of Winter to come out in 2014. I wonder what odds you can get on that happening. – Paul D. Waite Oct 19 '14 at 19:33
  • 1
    @PaulD.Waite: There is no chance in frozen hell for The Winds of Winter to come out in 2014. With one month left before end-of-year holiday season, the book would have to have been fully in editing mode for quite some time for it to be able to come out for it. – Jean Hominal Nov 01 '14 at 18:30
  • 1
    It seems even in 2015 is rather too optimistic now... – Mithoron Apr 15 '15 at 10:49
  • @MichaelEdenfield - they really missed the boat with WoT, too. The series having 13 books to it would have been a nice symmetry with there being 13 Forsaken, 13 Aes Sedai in a circle, etc. etc. Plus, honestly, at least a full book worth of useless fluff could be eliminated easily. – Omegacron Apr 17 '15 at 18:06
  • 3
    @PaulD.Waite 2016...Still no prospect of WoW being released xD – Aegon Jun 20 '16 at 07:58
  • 1
    As of December 21st, 2016, there is still no hint of a release date. Better start appealing to the Seven or even the Lord of Light to get GRRM to speed things up a bit. – maguirenumber6 Dec 21 '16 at 11:29
  • 1
    @Aegon: 2017, and I believe this is as far as things have gotten: http://grrm.livejournal.com/515302.html?thread=25561062#t25561062 – Paul D. Waite Jan 13 '17 at 23:45
  • 2
    @Aegon: 2018’s a-comin’! The Winds of Winter will totally 100%* come with it! (* Not totally or 100%.) – Paul D. Waite Oct 25 '17 at 12:02
  • 1
    @PaulD.Waite Hah. At least the released prequel was good. There are rumors that GRRM is gonna publish something, anything with the title TWOW on insistence of his publishers who want to capitalize on the show's hype before it ends. – Aegon Oct 25 '17 at 13:24