It's been a while since the last book "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin has been released and 'Game of Thrones' fans could not contain their excitement upon learning that the next book "Winds of Winter" is set to come out this year as mentioned by the author himself.
He made an undecided calculation in his blog's comment section in response to a fan's request for the book, "Winds of the Winter" update, which is the sixth novel in the series.
Martin wrote, "Not done yet, but I've made progress. But not as much as I hoped a year ago when I thought to be done by now. I think it will be out this year."
It's been almost six years since the fifth book, "A Dance with Dragons," was released and fans have been dying for the "Winds of the Winter" to get published. He has delivered occasional updates on the book's development, however; they have been scarce and have a long gap, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
He posted on his blog on May of last year, warning his avid readers not to get too enthusiastic about the upcoming book. And on December of the same year, he announced to the audience at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico that they should not expect a happy ending once the "Winds of the Winter" gets released.
He said that "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 [book] that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places."
Martin's novels of "A Song of Ice and Fire" have motivated the phenomenal "Game of Thrones" TV series. It has provided the nearest thing to information regarding the upcoming book's development, according to The Telegraph.
In case "Winds of Winter" gets published this year, the episodes of the TV series have superseded the episodes of the novels. He has been collaborating with the "Game of Thrones" producers to possibly guide them towards plot points that will occur in his books.
Now that Martin announced the probability of "Winds of Winter" coming out this year, it is expected that fans will be waiting for its release and will be requesting for updates every now and then.
