'The Winds of Winter' Spoilers, Release Date and Update: George R. R. Martin Prioritizes Sixth Book of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Series Over 'Game of Thrones' Prequel
The release date of "The Winds of Winter" (TWOW) puzzled fans for several years now. George R. R. Martin recently assured that completing the remaining books of "A Song and Fire" (ASOIAF) series is his top priority over the potential television prequel of "Game of Thrones" (GOT).
GRRM's Priorities
Per Deadline, GRRM spoke to the press at the backstage of the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night and teased about the potential prequel series of HBO's GOT. The massively popular fantasy television series, which is an adaptation of Martin's ASOIAF novels, took home the Emmy for the best drama series.
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The 68-year-old novelist shared he has thousands of pages of fake history about everything on the land of Westeros before the events of the novels and television series took place. He said he has a lot of material and he is planning to write more.
However, GOT fans should not get excited yet. GRRM clarified that the sequel of the epic fantasy drama does not belong to his top priorities in the coming years. He clarified that he still has two remaining GOT seasons to work on with HBO. He also specified that he has two ASOIAF books to finish, TWOW and the seventh novel "A Dream of Spring."
TWOW's Publication Date
Martin released the fifth ASOIAF book "A Dance with Dragons" on July 12, 2011. TWOW, the sixth novel of the epic fantasy series, has no release date as yet.
Last month, GRRM celebrated the 20th anniversary of "A Game of Thrones," the first novel of the ASOIAF series. He wrote on his blog that he is still writing TWOW and he has no announcement to make about the novel's progress.
Several speculations about TWOW's publication date surfaced in the past weeks. However, Martin's publishers, the Penguin Random House and the HarperCollins, set the record straight that all rumors about the book's release are untrue. The companies stated that GRRM is still finishing the novel and there is no final date yet.
The Success of the TV Adaptation
The release date of TWOW was initially scheduled early this year, ahead of the premiere of the sixth season of HBO's GOT. However, Martin failed to complete the book as planned. The sixth season of the television series aired with no novel to base from.
Aside from winning the Emmy for the best drama series on Sunday, GOT also took home the Emmys for directing and writing for a drama series. The seventh season of the cult hit will return to HBO in the summer of 2017. The eighth season of the series will be the show's final installment.
