Update, 6/1/18:

George R.R. Martin dropped a teaser trailer for his A Song of Ice and Fire prequel on Friday. The brief video leans into the dramatic to promote his upcoming book Fire and Blood. It’s set 300 years before the events of A Game of Thrones and is all about the Targaryens that used to rule Westeros…and their dragons.

Previously:

The words “George R.R. Martin” and “book release” cut through fans of his A Song of Ice and Fire series like Valyrian steel, because they are always double-edged. And his latest announcement is no different, since he has both exciting and absolutely frustrating news. Because later this year we are getting the first book in his Targaryen kings history, but we are not getting The Winds of Winter. You read that right. No Winds of Winter in 2018.

The author revealed on his website the first of two books in his massive “imaginary history” Fire and Blood about House Targaryen’s reign in Westeros will be available on November 20. This first half, which will include more than 75 black and white drawings, will run a whopping 989 pages, and cover the time “from Aegon I (the Conquerer) to the regency of Aegon III (the Dragonbane), along with their wives, wars, siblings, children, friends, rivals, laws, travels, and sundry other matters,” along with “lots of dragons.” The time period after this is when dragons went extinct–until Daenerys.

While some of the material has been partially released before, even most of those sections will be greatly expanded.

Affectionately referred to as his “GRRMarillion,” Fire & Blood is not a novel, though he says it contains enough stories for 20 of them. Are any of them potential Game of Thrones prequels ideas? He was coy, but it certainly sounds like they are. As for the second book he said it’s a few years away because he has other projects to work on. Speaking of…

That’s why we can’t totally celebrate this news (and it really is good news, the Targaryen section was the best part of The World and Fire and Ice companion book). It came with an announcement that will leave many disappointed if not angry, since he opened his post with this:

“No, winter is not coming… not in 2018, at least. You’re going to have to keep waiting for THE WINDS OF WINTER.”

The sixth book in the series isn’t coming out this year…”at least.” Sigh. That’s why these announcements are like getting handed a Valyrian steel sword as a gift, and then having it jammed in your stomach.

When do you think we are getting The Winds of Winter? What Targaryen king are you eager to learn more about?

Images: Bantam Publishing, HBO

Grr with more about GRRM!

• He actually left LiveJournal in the past.
• Is he trolling us about Game of Thrones spin-offs?
• Read The Winds of Winter as written by a neural network.