Martin appeared on Colbert’s US chatshow earlier this week in support of his new book, Fire And Blood. The new release is a fictional history set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire – and it’s coming amid a long, long wait for The Winds of Winter.
TWOW is the sixth book in ASOIAF, and Martin has been promising for several years now that it’s on the way.
Colbert playfully poked fun at the delay when Martin revealed that the 700-page Fire and Blood is only the first half of a planned two-part series.
“Aren’t you supposed to be finishing Winds of Winter this entire time?!” an incredulous Colbert asked.
With Martin laughing, Colbert added: “Not to add to the chorus of ‘what is taking so long’, but [Fire and Blood] is a 700-page detour!
“How did you have time to do a 700-page book? Two 700-page books?”
Martin confirmed that he’ll make sure TWOW is out before he gets to work on the second volume of Fire and Blood.
“First I have to finish The Winds of Winter,” he said.
“Then the second half of [Fire and Blood]. Or A Dream of Spring… there’s a lot of stuff to write. So I should actually get home and get to work!”
Fire and Blood has been met with mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, who argued that it is an exercise in procrastination from the mastermind behind one of the most popular fantasy phenomenons of all time.
Game of Thrones, the TV show, will be back for its final season in 2019.
Its storylines overtook the ASOIAF novels some time ago, amid the long wait for Martin’s publications.
Fire and Blood by George RR Martin is out now.
