George R.R. Martin’s New 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Book 'The Winds of Winter' Delayed Until after 'Game of Thrones' Season 6 Release Date

By Mark Rollins
George R. R. Martin
Author George R.R. Martin at Comic-Con. Getty Images

When it comes to publishing books, delays are simply inevitable.  As someone who has had books published, results after editing and eventual publishing often arrive later rather than sooner.  When it comes to George R. R. Martin, who has been working on A Song of Ice and Fire book series for decades, only to have the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, the end result is going to be a lot of disappointed Game of Thrones fans.  This is what is known about the sixth novel's release date as well HBO's Game of Thrones, Season 6. 

Vox reports that famed author George R.R. Martin apologized for his delay on Livejournal, and it looks like The Winds of Winter will come out after HBO's sixth season of Game of Thrones, treading much of the ground that the book is going to tell.  This means that Season 6 of the TV series could be a major spoiler for Book 6. 

Martin says:  "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. For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, 'I have completed and delivered The Winds of Winter' on or before the last day of 2015. But the book's not done.

Considering that a lot of readers have been reading Martin's works since 1996, they will no longer be ahead of the only television watching audience of Game of Thrones.  Not that the show has followed the books exactly, even though the characters have taken similar but not identical paths. 

The fifth season of Game of Thrones did keep fans of the books guessing as characters that are alive in the books (at least at this present time) died on the TV series.  This is the issue that happens when a literary book series ends up being adapted before it has concluded.  If the screen adaptation becomes popular, then it there is demand for the book series to not outrun it.  The show The Walking Dead has a similar problem, as the series is starting to catch up to its graphic novel source material, but has yet to surpass it. 

At this rate, the planned seventh and final book of A Song of Ice and Fire will not be published in time for Season 7 of Game of Thrones, the series.  It seems like the entire show could be put on hold until George R.R. Martin finishes the last book of the series, and that would not be good at all for everyone involved in the production. 

Game of Thrones the TV series Season 6 will begin on April 2016 on HBO and you can read about possible spoilers here. 

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