It's unlikely "The Winds of Winter" release date will happen this 2017 as confirmed by George RR Martin. The author has admitted he was to blame for the delays but a new report claimed GRRM stopped writing at one point because of David Benioff and Dan Weiss, better known as "Game of Thrones" showrunners.
Apart from Martin's recent admission that he has too much tasks on hand, among them working on pilot scripts for possible Game of Thrones spinoffs, it appears the GoT creator's work on TWoW was derailed due to a misunderstanding with Benioff and Weiss. Blasting News reported that GRRM "has decided to stop writing the much-awaited book after the "Game of Thrones" Season 6 Episode 10 revealed a handful of spoilers."
The inclusion of TWoW spoilers during the Season Finale of Game of Thrones last year got Martin so distracted that he stopped working on the project for a stretch of time. Indeed by January 2016, GRRM provided an update on his blog that the sixth instalment of "A Song of Ice and Fire" coming out in the year was next to impossible.
It was assumed that the rift between Martin and the GoT creators was settled but it did not redound to The Winds of Winter getting completed earlier. To date, there are no indicators that TWoW will finally see publication this 2017 and the book author admitted recently that too much workloads confronting him, it will be a miracle to print the book anytime soon.
One miracle that Martin discussed was his wish to get cloned so his other self can work on TWoW while his body catches up on sleep. In reality, The Winds of Winter making its way to the bookshelves this year will be a stretch, going by the sentiments shared by GRRM lately.
The safer bet would be a 2018 debut, hopefully in the early months of next year, CeleBeat reported. The news site said it's hard to imagine that Martin can efficiently work on too many things all at once, things will have to be sacrificed and most likely it will be TWoW.
It appears that as far as GRRM is concerned, more pressing on his plate right now is the completion of the five pilot scripts that HBO ordered. Martin is collaborating with five writers on the projects, which according to him could lead to "successor shows."
But it could be that the GoT spinoffs will be completed quick since Martin can count on the help of other writers. And the author will then turn his attention on other things. "There is hope that Martin will prioritize the sixth ASOIAF novel since it is the one that has been delayed the longest," the report said.
As seeing TWoW getting published this coming July is already a remote scenario, the volume will soon be more than six years in the making, the longest so far in the ASOIAF series.
And most likely, The Winds of Winter release date will happen long after the Game of Thrones Season 7 run that will get completed in just six weeks. So it has to be an early 2018 debut for TWoW but that will still depend on GRRM's mood and workloads.
