The controversy around “Winds of Winter” is not going to die down anytime soon from the looks of it, and things are only going to get more heated for writer George R. R. Martin as he has to endure the pressure of his enormous fan base.
Indeed, many people are waiting for the release of the next book, and after going through delay after delay, it still looks like it’s nowhere in sight and won’t be ready anytime soon. While hopes for a 2016 release are out of the question at this point (and have been for a while), many fans were convinced that the book will at least come out next year.
However, as disappointing as that may be, it now seems like “Winds of Winter” may not even make it for a 2017 release. The author has been incredibly busy with his work on the book, to the extent that he’s had to cancel some public appearances, but it still hasn’t been enough to allow him to properly concentrate on his writing.
What could be taking so long anyway? At this point, there are few legitimate excuses that could explain why Martin has been putting off the book for so long. Many seem to think that the main reason lies in Martin’s perfectionism, and the author’s desire to make the book the true sequel to his iconic series that fans want to see.
After all, people are expecting something very special after waiting for so long, and this might be the very reason why Martin has been delaying the book in recent times. Some fans are speculating that the author is starting to feel the negative effects of the constant pressure on him, and he might simply be afraid to release the book in any state at this point.
We’ve already seen situations like this with other popular series in the past, across all forms of media. When something becomes too big for its own good, there are few ways to properly continue the series without disappointing a significant portion of the community.
If that’s the case though, Martin should definitely hurry up with the release of the book, as things are only going to get worse from now on. The longer he has to delay that release, the more pressure there will be on Martin once the book is out, and subsequently fans are going to judge it even more.
Some recent reports claim that “Winds of Winter” will only come out after the next season of “Game of Thrones” has started airing, but at the same time fans shouldn’t look forward to the premiere of the season as a hint for the book itself.
This should be pretty obvious in light of the reports that the book might not make it to the market in 2017, but maybe Martin is actually planning some grand surprise and is going to reveal that he’s been putting the finishing touches on his work over the last few months.
The other major problem the author is facing right now is the state of his communication with fans. It’s no secret that George R. R. Martin is a secretive person and he doesn’t like to share too much, but some fans have been getting more and more frustrated with this recently. This is probably even more noticeable now in light of the constant delays in the next book.