<P> Martin has refrained from making hard estimates for The Winds of Winter's final release date . In 2014, estimates based on extrapolation of Martin's writing pace predicted the release date sometime between 2015 and 2018 . </P> <P> The Winds of Winter will take readers farther north than any of the previous books, and the Others will appear in the book . The previous installment, A Dance with Dragons, covered less story than Martin intended, excluding at least one planned large battle sequence and leaving several character threads ending in cliffhangers . Martin intends to resolve these storylines "very early" in The Winds of Winter, saying "I'm going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen--the battle of Slaver's Bay . And then take it from there ." A Victarion Greyjoy chapter will begin five minutes after the end of A Dance with Dragons, taking place on the eve of the Iron Islanders' arrival in Slaver's Bay . Arianne Martell sample chapters that Martin released on his website showed her heading for Griffin's Roost to see the young man who is calling himself Aegon . </P> <P> George R.R. Martin has confirmed that the following characters have point - of - view chapters in The Winds of Winter: </P> <Ul> <Li> Sansa Stark: One chapter was removed from A Dance with Dragons in June 2010, and one sample chapter titled Alayne appeared on Martin's website in April 2015 . </Li> <Li> Arya Stark: One chapter was removed from A Dance with Dragons in June 2010, and one sample chapter titled Mercy appeared on Martin's website in March 2014 . </Li> <Li> Arianne Martell: Two chapters were removed from A Dance with Dragons in June 2010 . One sample chapter appeared on Martin's website in January 2013, and was read at Harbour Front Literaturfestival in June 2015 . Martin read from both chapters at MystiCon in February 2016 . In May 2016, Martin replaced the sample Sansa Stark chapter titled Alayne on his website from 2015 with the first Arianne Martell chapter he has read from at MystiCon . </Li> <Li> Aeron Greyjoy: One chapter was removed from A Dance with Dragons in July 2010 . A chapter titled The Forsaken was read in May 2016 at Balticon . It was written in, or before, 2011 but there was no confirmation that this was the chapter removed from A Dance with Dragons . </Li> <Li> Theon Greyjoy: One sample chapter appeared on Martin's website in December 2011 . It also appears as a teaser chapter at the end of the UK paperback edition of A Dance with Dragons (part two). </Li> <Li> Victarion Greyjoy: Portions of one chapter were first read at TIFF Bell Lightbox in March 2012 . </Li> <Li> Tyrion Lannister: One chapter was read at Eastercon in April 2012, and another one at Worldcon in August 2013, the second of which was later published in the official iOS app on March 20, 2014 . </Li> <Li> Barristan Selmy: One chapter was released as a teaser at the end of the 2013 U.S. paperback edition of A Dance with Dragons . In 2013 Martin read from 2 chapters at Boskone . </Li> </Ul>

When is the wind of winter coming out