He does not intend to separate characters by geography again, as he was forced to do because of the unpublishable length of A Feast for Crows ' original manuscript.
THE FORSAKEN GAME OF THRONES SERIES
Martin believes the last two volumes of the series will be massive works of more than 1,500 manuscript pages each. Following his expansion of the series, Martin eventually concluded it would be succeeded by one final novel, A Dream of Spring. The Winds of Winter was originally intended, in the very early stages of the series, to be the final installment of A Song of Ice and Fire (then conceived as a trilogy). In addition, he teased at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con that Jeyne Westerling, Robb Stark's widow, will appear in the prologue chapter, but did not reveal who will be the POV character. He also stated that Bran Stark, Samwell Tarly and Cersei Lannister will appear in the novel, but did not elaborate if as viewpoint characters. Martin confirmed that Areo Hotah and Melisandre will return as viewpoints but did not state which novel their chapters will appear in. Martin confirmed that there are no new viewpoint characters intended for The Winds of Winter. In 2013 Martin read from a second chapter at Boskone.
![the forsaken game of thrones the forsaken game of thrones](http://www.game-of-thrones-dubrovnik-tour.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/GoT_Dubrovnik-73-1024x683.jpg)
paperback edition of A Dance with Dragons.
![the forsaken game of thrones the forsaken game of thrones](https://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/8/86/Victor_Manuel_Leza_MorenoPyatPreeII.png)
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.Victarion Greyjoy: Portions of one chapter were first read at TIFF Bell Lightbox in March 2012.It also appears as a teaser chapter at the end of the UK paperback edition of A Dance with Dragons (part two). Theon Greyjoy: One sample chapter appeared on Martin's website in December 2011.It was written in, or before, 2011 but there was no confirmation that this was the chapter removed from A Dance with Dragons. A chapter titled The Forsaken was read in May 2016 at Balticon. Aeron Greyjoy: One chapter was removed from A Dance with Dragons in July 2010.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. Martin read from both chapters at MystiCon in February 2016. One sample chapter appeared on Martin's website in January 2013, and was read at Harbour Front Literaturfestival in June 2015. Arianne Martell: Two chapters were removed from A Dance with Dragons in June 2010.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.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.Martin has confirmed that the following characters have point-of-view chapters in The Winds of Winter: Some of the characters in very dark places. Things get worse before they get better, so things are getting worse for a lot of people." Viewpoint characters Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. "I've been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. At Guadalajara International Book Fair 2016, Martin gave some clues about the dark nature of The Winds of Winter. Arianne Martell sample chapters that Martin released on his Web site showed her heading for Griffin's Roost to see the young man who is calling himself Aegon VI Targaryen. 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 Ironborn's arrival in Slaver's Bay. 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.
![the forsaken game of thrones the forsaken game of thrones](https://cdn.80.lv/api/upload/content/1f/5db7d598dcc56.jpg)
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. The Winds of Winter will take readers farther north than any of the previous books, and the Others will appear in the book.