We hate to break it to ya, but the highly anticipated installment of “A Song of Ice and Fire” is not ready yet. Oh, you know, the popular George R.R. Martin novel series on which “Game of Thrones” is based.
“The Winds of Winter” is not finished. The book’s not done. Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week.
The author took to his blog on Saturday (2nd January 2016) to update fans of both the books as well as the HBO TV series.
George humbly admitted that the delay (“The Winds of Winter” was originally scheduled to be completed before the end of 2015) was his fault and his alone. He revealed that although a lot has already been written, there’s a lot still left to write.
And having blown 2 deadlines given to him by his publisher, he’s well aware that he has disappointed many people.
“Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words. 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,” he wrote.
But that’s not all. In one fell swoop, George also confirmed that there’s no way that “The Winds of Winter” will arrive before “Game of Thrones” S6.
“But I won’t make excuses. There are no excuses. No one else is to blame. Not my editors and publishers, not HBO, not David & Dan. It’s on me. I tried, and I am still trying. I worked on the book a couple of days ago, revising a Theon chapter and adding some new material, and I will writing on it again tomorrow. But no, I can’t tell you when it will be done, or when it will be published,” he added.
For the first time, followers of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” novel series will find themselves in quite a predicament as the “Game of Thrones” TV series will be ahead. Hence, the TV series could spoil the forthcoming book, and not the other way round.
George himself admitted in his lengthy blog post that he had never thought the series could possibly catch up with the books, but it has.
The show moved faster than I anticipated and I moved more slowly.
After he finishes “The Winds of Winter”, he’d have to immediately get cracking on the last installment in the series, “A Dream of Spring”.
Such is the life of an author of a high demand novel series!
But in true “Game of Thrones” manner, there will be certain plot twists and reveals “Game of Thrones” S6 that have not yet happened in the books. So our best guess is that it’s still possible to enjoy both the novel series as well as the TV show.
And with that, George ends his blog post with:
Enjoy the show. Enjoy the books. Meanwhile, I’ll keep writing. Chapter at a time. Page at a time. Word at a time. That’s all I know how to do.
“Game of Thrones” S6 is expected to air on HBO this April.
Sources: George R.R. Martin’s blog, The Verge, The Two-Way.
