‘Winds Of Winter’ Release Date Rumor: Book Might Come Out This Year After All

The Winds of Winter remains to be one of the most anticipated books by readers all over the world. Its release date is still a mystery, but thankfully, author George R. R. Martin provided an update on the much-awaited project.

Martin announced in a recent blog post the release of a new project he is involved with titled The Book of Swords by Gardner Dozois, where he wrote a Game of Thrones story called “The Sons of the Dragon.”

On his live journal “Not A Blog,” Martin said how much he enjoyed working on the story, which focuses on the Targaryens, and plans to do more projects like this with Dozois, but not before he completes his work on The Winds of Winter.

The gig took Martin’s attention away a bit from The Winds of Winter, but the author emphasized that the long-awaited Game of Thrones book is once again what keeps him busy at the moment.

“Truth be told, I loved editing those anthologies with Gardner, and we want to do more together … But we’re not doing any of that NOW. The anthologies, much as I loved them, were taking too much of my time, so I stepped back from them… until I finish The Winds of Winter, at least. Once that’s done, maybe I can sneak another one in.”

While a specific release date is yet to be revealed, trusted all-around pop culture tipster and analyst Emergency Awesome suggested a possible launch for Winds of Winter based on the Game of Thrones-related projects coming this year.

By the expectations that The Book of Swords will “ride on the coattails” of The Winds of Winter to boost its sales performance and exposure, he said that the two tomes could hit the shelves together, if not only a short time apart.

Add to that the premiere date of Game of Thrones Season 7, which Emergency Awesome expects will hit the small screen by June at the earliest, taking into consideration the production delay.

The Book of Swords is set for release on October 10. If The Winds of Winter will be released alongside this storybook collection for promotion and to continue the flow of Game of Thrones content after the Season 7 concludes, a release this year could be possible. The tipster said that it might even arrive just before winter comes.

If this will be the case, fans might finally be closer to the launch of The Winds of Winter than they ever were. However, it is to be noted that this is only mere speculation as the final word will still come from George R.R. Martin.

The award-winning author is yet to announce a release date as he appears to be still working diligently on the novel. Martin did say on his blog in a post from last month that a 2017 release for The Winds of Winter is probable, but he himself warned fans not to take his word for it at the moment.

“I think it will be out this year. But hey, I thought the same thing last year.”

He wrote in the comment section that while he made some progress, it is “not as much as I hoped a year ago, when I thought to be done by now.”

It looks like there is a lot of work that needs to be done on The Winds of Winter. While this worries fans who have been waiting for the sixth A Song of Ice and Fire installment for more than a decade now, Martin assured that his focus is on finishing it.

Either way, Game of Thrones fans will surely have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. Whether The Winds of Winter makes it this year or not, fans will have Season 7 and The Books of Swords to tide them over.

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