On April 11th, screenshots from an anonymous source containing supposed leaks about George R. R. Martin‘s The Winds of Winter began to make the rounds. It contained claims that the long-awaited book was not only completed, but it was also set to be released this year.
Today, Martin’s publisher, Bantam Books, has debunked this as just another rumor.
The alleged leak supposedly came from a “production assistant at Bantam Spectra” who had been there “for years.” Of course, details were kept vague to protect anonymity and to make it harder to smell bullshit.
“The manuscript was delivered internally in January 2026. Not a partial. The actual full thing. GRRM apparently finished it sometime in late 2025 and the silence from his blog has been intentional, marketing told him to go dark,” the screenshot claims. It goes on to say that the project was under “embargoed until Comic-Con.” To explain why Bantam wasn’t screaming this news from the rooftops.
They even teased it being 1600 manuscript pages. Leading people online to theorize it may be The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring together.
The Winds of Winter
Alas, the next installment of the Song of Ice & Fire books still has an uncertain release date. “The online chatter you are seeing regarding a supposed leak is false,” a representative from Bantam Books told Entertainment Weekly.
The series currently consists of 1996’s A Game of Thrones, 1999’s A Clash of Kings, 2000’s A Storm of Swords, 2005’sA Feast for Crows, and 2011’s A Dance with Dragons. The 6th installment, The Winds of Winter, still has no target release date, let alone A Dream of Spring.
In January, Martin did give an update on the novel’s progress, but it wasn’t super promising. “I do think if I can just get some of these other things off my back, I could finish The Winds of Winter pretty soon,” the author told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s been made clear to me that Winds is the priority, but… I don’t know. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for that.”
He has also made it clear that he will not hand the series over to another author to finish it, as some fans have suggested, sometimes to Martin’s face.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about The Winds of Winter as the project develops.
