"Game of Thrones" may be coming to an end in 2019, but the novel series it was based from is still far from over. The sixth book "The Winds of Winter" was earlier expected to be released this year. But with the end of 2017 on the horizon, it looks like fans will have to wait another year for the highly anticipated sixth installment.
George R. R. Martin's seven-book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" started in 1991, supposedly just a trilogy. The fifth installment, "A Dance with Dragons," was released in 2011, and reportedly took six years to write. If it takes Martin the same time to pen the 1,500-page next installment, that puts 2017 around the right time for the release.
But the award-winning and best-selling author had a lot on his plate in recent years, what with the global success of his books' TV adaptation. Now that it is coming to an end, HBO is reportedly working with Martin for several prequel series, probably the reason the author recently met with them in Los Angeles.
"When I wasn't gazing out over the city from the balcony of my room at the Four Seasons, I was having meetings. HBO meetings, for the most part... exciting stuff, and they all went well... and meetings with some major film studios as well, about possible adaptions of some of my other work. All very exciting. Cross your fingers, cross your toes, I might have thrilling news down the line," he said in his LiveJournal blog.
While those are some exciting news for the TV series fans, they are quite the opposite for those waiting for "The Winds of Winter."
For now, all they are holding onto is an earlier released excerpt from the upcoming novel. This showed King's Landing from the eyes of Arianne Martell, eldest daughter of Doran Martell, ruling Prince of Dorne, and his consort Lady Mellario. According to customs, this makes Arianne the heiress of Sunspear and future ruling Princess of Dorne.
Being given a point of view chapter means the Dornish princess will play a huge role in "The Winds of Winter." But the same could not be said of her role in the TV adaptation. After all, her character has yet to make a GoT debut, if she would appear in the series at all.
Because of this information, fans believe that the finale of "Game of Thrones" will be far different from that of "A Song of Ice and Fire." This is not exactly a surprise, however, as the TV series was never afraid to adjust book scenarios to better fit the small screen, all with the guidance of the books' author himself.
The release of "The Winds of Winter" has been delayed several times in the past, but both fans and the author hope it will finally be out before "Game of Thrones" season 8 premieres in 2019.
