It looked like the release date for Winds of Winter was put up on the page of Amazon France. The fans got excited, only to realize that there wasn’t any official announcement for the same. It looked like Winds of Winter’s release date was leaked. Harper Collins, the UK publisher of Martin’s, denied the news.
Fans were ecstatic to find Amazon France putting up a date for the release of Winds of Winter. The much awaited sixth novel in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series reportedly was scheduled for a March 2017 launch.
The fifth book, A Dance With Dragons was released way back in 2011, and it’s been a long and gruesome wait for the fans. Even HBO overtook Martin’s storytelling and completed Season 6 of Game of Thrones.
When fans enquired Amazon France about the source of the publication date, they said that the date was merely a placeholder and even indicated that the information might not be a valid one.
The fans were thoroughly disappointed because the supposed release date was the first time that they had received an update on Winds of Winter.
The fans have run out of patience. They have urged George R. R. Martin to cut down on his social commitments to focus on the Winds of Winter. Martin instead of writing about the progress of Winds of Winter on his blog have been writing about football and U.S immigration.
Martin attended the Worldcon 2016 from 18th to 21st of August. He posted an update on his live blog to keep the fans abreast with what happened at the event. Martin confessed that he wanted to write about what transpired at the Worldcon, but was too tired to write it finally.
It is clear that he has missed numerous deadlines set by the publishers. Christian Today reported that George R. R. Martin gets stressed by target dates. He refused to mention any stipulated time for the publication of Winds of Winter.
It looks like the publishers are supportive of the time Martin is taking to complete Winds of Winter, in spite of missing multiple deadlines.
They have released a statement saying that they support George R. R. Martin as he continues to work on Winds of Winter. Martin’s US publisher, Random House reported that the publication dates circulating in the social media are false. There will be an official announcement of the release date after the completion of Winds of Winter.
Martin has been cryptic about his progress. He hasn’t been forthcoming about the status of Winds of Winter. He had mentioned on his blog that he would not provide clues for fans to decipher the date of Winds of Winter’s release. Martin will directly announce the news of the publication date to his fans.
He had made it clear that he isn’t writing Winds of Winter keeping in mind a release date coinciding with the Christmas, Valentine’s Day or any similar occasion.
He will publish the book immediately after it’s ready and will not wait for any particular occasion for the same. Martin’s statement rules out the possibility of a surprise launch of Winds of Winter.
Fans were initially skeptical about HBO releasing Game of Thrones Season 6 before the publication of Winds of Winter. They felt that the novel will lose its charm if HBO shares the story ahead of the novel.
Martin himself wasn’t completely ready, but he had no option but to give the green signal to HBO. He wasn’t close to completing Winds of Winter and didn’t have a time frame in mind.