George R.R. Martin gives an update on The Winds of Winter

George R.R. Martin took to his Not a Blog today to address a few issues: 1) a short story of his that will soon be appearing in The Book of Swords; 2) the status of Fire and Blood, his book of Targaryen history, and; 3) The Winds of Winter. Yes, please.

The Book of Swords is a collection of sword-and-sorcery short stories. Martin’s contribution — “Sons of the Dragon — is about the reigns of Aenys I Targaryen and Maegor the Cruel. The book will be out on October 10, and is available to preorder on Amazon.

As for Fire and Blood, apparently Martin has so much material that the book will be put out in two volumes. This tome of fake history will cover the reigns of all the Targaryen kings since Aegon the Conqueror. The first volume, which Martin suspects will be out in late 2018 or early 2019, will cover everything up to the reign of Aegon III (the Dragonbane), including a detailed accounting of the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. The second volume, most of which isn’t written yet, will cover everything up until Robert Baratheon booted the Targaryens off the Iron Throne.

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And that’s all very neat, but it’s safe to say that most fans are most interested in news about The Winds of Winter. After Martin discounted rumors that the book is finished (it’s not) and that he hasn’t written a word (he has), he gave a brief update on its progress:

"I am still working on it, I am still months away (how many? good question), I still have good days and bad days, and that’s all I care to say. Whether WINDS or the first volume of FIRE AND BLOOD will be the first to hit the bookstores is hard to say at this juncture, but I do think you will have a Westeros book from me in 2018… and who knows, maybe two. A boy can dream…"

Yes, we all can dream…

Next: Valar Morghulis: Who's most likely to die in 'Stormborn'?

And until our dreams come true, there’s always Game of Thrones to busy us.