[Angst]

I’ve been struggling with it for a few years,” he said, a fact that every fan knows acutely. “The Winds of Winter is not so much a novel as a dozen novels, each with a different protagonist, each having a different cast of supporting players and antagonists and allies and lovers around them, and all of these weaving together in an extremely complex fashion. So it’s very, very challenging. Fire and Blood by contrast was very simple. Not that it’s easy, it still took me years to put together, but it is easier.”

--George RR Martin

--George RR Martin interview with The Guardian