'The Winds of Winter' Rumors: 6th 'Song of Ice and Fire' Installment to Hit Stores in 2018?
"Game of Thrones," the television adaptation of George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series, "A Song of Ice and Fire (ASoIaF)," is currently in its penultimate season. However, it seems that the continuing success of the television series is doing nothing at all to escalate the release of, "The Winds of Winter," the highly anticipated sixth installment of Martin's ongoing book saga.
The author, at least, is still able to find humor in his current predicament. Martin recently went on Twitter to take a self-aware jab at himself while telling his fans about his trip to New York City. He said that while people on the streets made him out and even asked to take selfies with him, the security guards at his publisher's offices failed to recognize him and were even demanding to see his I.D.
He was, of course, only stating the fact in a joking way, but fans can't help but wonder if he was perhaps trolling himself online. After all, it has probably been quite a while since the last time he walked into a publisher's office with a new manuscript at hand.
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"A Dance with Dragons," the fifth book in the series was released six years ago in July 2011, which has by now become the longest gap between publications. "A Feast for Crows," the fourth book in the series, was released in November 2005, almost six years before the fifth one arrived.
Could six years be long enough of a wait to warrant assumptions that the sixth book may just be around the corner now? Sadly, there is no way of knowing for sure. Martin has, however, assured fans that once he knows, he will let them all know right away via "Not A Blog," his official blog on Livejournal.
In one of his recent entries in the said journal, Martin told his fans that he has not yet finished writing "The Winds of Winter" despite what reports have been saying.
"I am still working on it, I am still months away (how many? good question), I still have good days and bad days, and that's all I care to say," Martin wrote.
He further added that a Westeros book or two may just be on the way for 2018. But whether this will be "The Winds of Winter" or the first installment of "Fire and Blood," the planned complete history of House Targaryen, is still unclear even to Martin himself.
What's for sure, though, is that "The Winds of Winter" will be taking readers farther North than any of the previous books have done, and that the Others (or White Walkers in the TV series) will also appear in the said book. Martin also plans on wrapping up the unresolved issues and cliffhangers left behind by the fifth book "very early" in the forthcoming installment.
