The Winds of Winter is the eagerly awaited sixth novel in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. The previous book, A Dance with Dragons, didn’t cover as much story as Martin had planned, leaving out a significant battle sequence and concluding several character arcs with cliffhangers. Martin has promised to tackle these unresolved storylines "very early" in The Winds of Winter. He plans to kick off the novel with two major battles that were being set up: the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen, also known as the battle of Slaver's Bay, before moving the story forward from there.