George R.R. Martin recently delighted fans with a new update on his blog, but it wasn't about the long-awaited *The Winds of Winter*. Instead, he unveiled the cover for the upcoming illustrated edition of *A Feast for Crows*, the fourth book in the *A Song of Ice and Fire* series to receive this special treatment. The artwork for this edition will be crafted by Jeffrey R. McDonald, promising a visually stunning addition to the collection.
*A Feast for Crows: The Illustrated Edition* is scheduled for release on November 4, 2025. Fans eager to add this to their collection can preorder it from major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Target, among other top online bookstores.

Out November 4, 2025
This news is particularly exciting for collectors of the illustrated editions. The last illustrated edition, *A Storm of Swords*, was released in November 2020, marking a five-year gap before the arrival of *A Feast for Crows*. In addition to the captivating illustrations, this new edition will feature a foreword by Joe Abercrombie. Martin has promised to share some of the interior illustrations later this spring, building anticipation ahead of the book's release. For those new to the series, the first three illustrated editions of *A Song of Ice and Fire* are already available for purchase.




For those eagerly awaiting *The Winds of Winter*, the wait continues. The last update from Martin on this front came in a December 2024 interview, where he expressed concerns about completing the book within his lifetime. This followed his November 2023 statement that he had already written 1,100 pages of the manuscript. While the lack of progress on *The Winds of Winter* is disappointing after nearly 14 years of anticipation, there remains hope that the series might be completed by someone else. With the fourth illustrated edition now on the horizon, it seems likely that the first five special editions will be finished before *The Winds of Winter* sees the light of day.