Fans were very disturbed and disappointed earlier this year when George RR Martin announced that the release date for Winds of Winter has been pushed back again. A lot of people believe that the much-anticipated book could be arriving by the end of 2016 and there are also some who think that this book will be arriving on 2017.
However, there hasn’t been an official confirmation regarding when fans should be expecting the next book to release. However, there are some details which should help us know or give us an idea regarding when the waiting shall be over.
The New Mexican author failed fans and himself for not having been able to complete The Winds of Winter on time. According to recent reports, the release date could be in 2017. Parent Herald further reported that it is highly possible for George to finish the book next year, with the help of Neil Gaiman.
The latest reports say that The Sandman and Good Omens Bad Omens author was spotted in the same area where Martin lives. As a result, this sparked a lot of rumors regarding his co-authorship for Winds of Winter.
George should be able to publish Winds of Winter in 2017 with the help of Gaiman. However, till now, an official word from both parties is yet to be released due to which fans should take these reports with a grain of salt. Martin was quite devastated when he had to let his followers know that he will not be able to finish The Winds of Winter on time.
He said, “You’re disappointed, and you’re not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed… but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me.”
Crossmap further shared that the release date for Winds of Winter is really hard to predict since only a few details about the upcoming novel has been made available, as of yet. For now, fans can simply pray that George will be able to overcome the distractions and be focused on the much-awaited book.
Meanwhile, the release date for Game of Thrones Season 6 is yet to be announced. Martin further assured that the forthcoming season for Game of Thrones will not spoil anything about Winds of Winter. George further said during an interview with IGN that there will be several twists and turns in the plot of his upcoming tome.
He said, “I have decided to do it. Will you know it? I don’t know. It is fairly obvious because it is something that involves a couple of characters, one of which is dead on the show, and not dead in the books. So the show can’t do it, unfortunately, because they have killed someone I have not killed.”
Martin further revealed that some characters that are already dead in Game of Thrones will still be alive in the new book. Meanwhile, fans are wondering which character will play into the new Winds of Winter story plot.
Fans already know that Jeyne technically does not appear in the show at all and instead of her, a new character named Talisa Maegyr was created in order to replace her.
IGN was recently told by Martin that the upcoming plot twist which will be featured in The Winds of Winter will involve a character that is dead on the show but alive in the books. It was pointed out that since Jeyne and Talisa aren’t considered to be the same character by George R.R Martin, she can be disqualified from the discussion.