All hope is not lost for fans of the George R.R. Martin's Winds of Winter as it has been reported that the sixth book in The Song of Ice and Fire series will be released this year.
According to a report by BitBag, Martin is already completing the final chapter of the book just as its television adaptation on HBO is poised to air its last two episodes of Season 6 – The Battle of the Bastards is slated for June 19 and finale entitled "The Winds of Winter" on June 26.
While the series has already spoiled some parts of the book since it was released earlier than its source material, the book does flesh out the characters that have already been introduced by the series such as Theon Greyjoy's sadistic uncle Aeron Greyjoy, whom the author hinted during the Balticon Convention, would be even more evil and ruthless than Ramsay Bolton.
While publishers are confident that the author will complete the novel before or by the end of the year, fans became worried anew with news that he fell ill after his appearance at the conference.
"I am back home again in Santa Fe, after two weeks on the road in Baltimore and New York City. Great trip... but I seem to have brought the plague home with me. Some kind of con crud was going around at Balticon. My assistant Jo was stricken with it, as was my friend Lezli Robyn, though in both cases it did not manifest until after the con. Coughing, fever, headache, congestion, more coughing," he wrote on his blog.
Aside from chapters already released by the author online, it remains to be seen whether Martin will take a different direction than the series.
The Winds of Winter is expected to answer what happened in the Tower of Joy and possibly reveal the mystery behind Jon Snow's true parentage amid the wealth of fan theories.
In an earlier tweet, the author gave a hint on who it could be. The author said it rhymes with Schmobert Schmaratheon and Schmatelyn Schmark. The tweet has since been deleted but not before fans quickly screencapped and shared the image online.
