<P> Martin is firm about ending the series with the seventh novel "until I decide not to be firm". With his stated goal of telling the story from beginning to end, he will not truncate the story to fit into an arbitrary number of volumes . He knows the ending in broad strokes as well as the future of the main characters, and will finish the series with bittersweet elements where not everyone will live happily ever after . Martin hopes to write an ending similar to The Lord of the Rings that he felt gave the story a satisfying depth and resonance . On the other hand, Martin noted the challenge to avoid a situation like the finale of the TV series Lost, which left some fans disappointed by deviating too far from their own theories and desires . In 2015, Martin said that he was not writing A Dream of Spring together with The Winds of Winter, and in early 2016, he said he did not believe A Dream of Spring would be published before the last season of the HBO show . In 2018, Martin commented he had not started working on the book . </P> <P> Martin offered the following hint as to how the series would conclude during a Q&A at the Guadalajara International Book Fair . "I'm not going to tell you how I'm going to end my book, but I suspect the overall flavor is going to be as much bittersweet as it is happy ." </P> <P> Early during the development of the TV series, Martin told major plot points to producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss . (The New York Times reported in 2011 that, at age 62, Martin was by all accounts in robust health .) Martin was confident he would have published at least The Winds of Winter before the TV series overtook him . Nevertheless, there was general concern about whether Martin would be able to stay ahead of the show . As a result, head writers Benioff and Weiss learned more future plot points from Martin in 2013 to help them set up the show's new possible seasons . This included the end stories for all the core characters . Deviations from the books' storylines are also being considered, but a two - year show hiatus to wait for new books is not an option for them as the child actors continue to grow and the show's popularity would wane . Martin indicated he would not permit another writer to finish the book series . On January 2, 2016, Martin confirmed that the sixth volume would not be published before the start of the sixth season of the HBO series . </P> <P> Regarding A Song of Ice and Fire as his magnum opus, Martin is certain never to write anything on this scale again and would only return to this fictional universe in the context of stand - alone novels . He prefers to write stories about characters from other A Song of Ice and Fire periods of history such as his Tales of Dunk and Egg project, instead of continuing the series directly . A possible future side project is a prequel set during Aegon's conquest of Westeros . Martin said he would love to return to writing short stories, novellas, novelettes, and stand - alone novels from diverse genres such as science fiction, horror, fantasy, or even a murder mystery . However, he will see if his audience follows him after publishing his next project . </P>

When did the books end in game of thrones