Critically-acclaimed author George R.R. Martin of the fantasy novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” has not come out with an official announcement or statement regarding the status of “The Winds of Winter,” the sixth book in the series, but there are now rumors stating that the writer has finished writing the book.
According to the same set of rumors, “The Winds of Winter” is now on proofreading stage so it is likely to come out next year, reports Counsel & Heal.
There have been reports over the past couple of weeks saying that “The Winds of Winter” might already come out in 2018 around after the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” airs on HBO.
The new rumors are even claiming that “The Winds of Winter” could come out and hit the book shelves as early as January 2017. However, until a confirmation is made by George Martin soon, this information should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Apologizing to fans
A January 2017 release date for “The Winds of Winter” seems unlikely since the author has previously apologized to fans for not keeping up with his writing schedule.
In his apology, Martin said that he is a person who is not very good with deadlines and he also averred then that his age may also be hampering his ability.
He explained that people can blame his age because it may have an impact on his writing speed too. Martin added that if truth be told, sometimes his writing goes well and sometimes it does not and that was true for him even he was in his 20s.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that “The Winds of Winter” is now officially the most awaited book in the world. But instead of talking about it and its projected release date, Martin recently teased that there will be a new prequel book for “Game of Thrones,” details the University Herald.
Martin did not directly admit it, but he recently alluded that he holds several thousands of pages that detail the history of Westeros before the “Games of Thrones,” which indicates that he is not only working on “The Winds of Winter” but also on an unnamed prequel book.
Many believe that this is yet another reason why there is the delay in the release date of “The Winds of Winter.”
A silent revolution in the offing?
Meanwhile, assuming that the previous rumors on “The Winds of Winter” are true, it could lead to a silent revolution among fans of “A Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy novel series by critically-acclaimed author George R.R. Martin.
There were reports that went around saying that George Martin is still chapters and hundreds of pages away from completing the sixth book of the series “The Winds of Winter” so from a rumored release date of anytime in 2017 before Season 7 of the HBO hit series “Game of Thrones,” there were speculations that the book may actually hit book shelves in 2018 at the earliest.
Assuming it does come out in 2018, it is likely that “The Winds of Winter” would already be released after the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” that year.
While the 2018 release date is way off from the projections made by fans and critics last year, some are saying that such timeline also makes sense in a way. Releasing “The Winds of Winter” anytime before Season 7 or Season 8 of “Game of Thrones” may result in possible confusion of storylines.
Most of the fans of “Game of Thrones” are also fans and readers of “A Song of Ice and Fire.” As such, they can immediately notice any deviation from the novel series.