The Winds of Winter /

The Winds of Winter is the forthcoming sixth novel in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The previous installment, A Dance with Dragons, covered less story than Martin intended, omitting at least one planned large battle sequence and leaving several character threads ending in cliffhangers. Martin intends to resolve these cliffhangers "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 chapter will begin five minutes after the end of A Dance with Dragons, taking place on the eve of the Iron Islanders' surprise attack on the cities in Slaver's Bay. An Arianne sample chapter that Martin released on his website shows her heading for Griffin's Roost to see the young boy who is calling himself Aegon. Martin said in March 2012 that the final two novels will take readers farther north than any of the previous books, and that the Others will appear in the book.