The Winds of Winter: George RR Martin offers update on upcoming Game of Thrones novel

'This is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for'

A Song of Ice and Fire author George RR Martin is known for the long time he takes to write his lengthy fantasy novels (Getty Images)

Fans have been waiting patiently for The Winds of Winter for over five years, George RR Martin having promised and failed to make numerous deadlines.

Thankfully, over the years, the author has offered numerous updates on his progress, releasing teaser chapters to the public and detailing the savagery the novel contains.

Speaking at a recent Q&A at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, as picked up by Entertainment Weekly, the author teased the sixth part in the A Song Of Ice And Fire saga once more.

“There are a lot of dark chapters right now in the book that I’m writing,” Martin told the audience. “It is called The Winds of Winter, and I’ve been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming.

“Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places.

“In any story, the classic structure is, ‘Things get worse before they get better,’ so things are getting worse for a lot of people.”

Speaking about how the saga’s final novel, A Dream of Spring, Martin once again spoke about his planned “bittersweet” ending, saying: “I’m not going to tell you how I’m going to end my book, but I suspect the overall flavour is going to be as much bittersweet as it is happy.”

The author also joked about how the books have become a much more difficult undertaking than he originally intended, saying: “Sometimes I look back and say, ‘Did it really have to be Seven Kingdoms?’ The Five Kingdoms of Westeros, that would have been good, right?” Watch the Q&A below.

Meanwhile, HBO has recently released the first footage from season seven of Game of Thrones, starring Jon Snow, Sansa Stark and The Girl Who Previously Had No Name, Arya.