“The Winds of Winter is not finished”, Martin confirmed in a blog post Saturday.
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Martin went on to say that is likely going to be months before the book is done.
Martin said he asked HBO to ensure that its TV series reflected the continuation of the books A song of Ice and Fire. I am months away still … and that’s if the writing goes well.
But whether you prefer the show’s take or the books, “you can still enjoy the hell out of both”, Martin said. No words can change that. The tone of Martin’s post was extremely defeated as he explained that he truly thought he could get the book out in time, but he has continued to miss deadlines. “And that nearly certainly means that no, The Winds of Winter will not be published before the sixth season of Game of Thrones premieres in April”.
The acclaimed author partially blamed his inability to stick to deadlines as well as his busy schedule on the trouble. Not my editors and publishers, not HBO, not David and Dan [the “Game of Thrones” showrunners]. It’s on me. I tried, and I am still trying…
He concluded that he couldn’t tell when the book would be done or published. Best guess, based on our previous conversations, is that Bantam (and presumably my British publisher as well) can have the hardcover out within three months of delivery, if their schedules permit.
The looming deadline and the stress of not finishing got to him. “I won’t make excuses”.
Though Martin says there may be spoilers in the show for book lovers, he added since the show has diverged so much from the source material, some of the “spoilers” may not be in the books at all.
Winter is upon us and with Season 6 of “Game of Thrones” coming soon, fans were hoping creator George RR Martin would finish his next book in time. “But fact is in 50 years readers will judge on the book’s quality and not if they met some arbitrary deadline and beat the TV adaptation. This year, for some things, the reverse will be true”, he surmised. But novelist George R.R. Martin has earned a reputation for undercutting such optimism in his Song of Ice and Fire novels, which take a broadsword to the sanitized conventions of the chivalric tradition.
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According to the author’s Livejournal, the much awaited book “is not yet finished” and will not be ready before the HBO show’s sixth season starts in April.
