Game Of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin Releases Winds Of Winter Paragraph … Yep, A Paragraph

Think you’re anxious to see the new season of Game of Thrones? That’s nothing compared to the suffering of those souls hooked on author George R.R. Martin’s books. But now the author has released a snippet of the next entry in the series, a paragraph from Tyrion’s chapter in The Winds of Winter.

This week, Martin posted a paragraph from the forthcoming installment of the Game of Thrones series. Yes, a paragraph… one single paragraph. But it’s about Tyrion, indicating that Martin has somehow kept himself from killing yet another fan favorite character, at least so far:

TYRION
Somewhere off in the far distance, a dying man was screaming for his mother. “To horse!” a man was yelling in Ghiscari, in the next camp to the north of the Second Sons. “To horse! To horse!” High and shrill, his voice carried a long way in the morning air, far beyond his own encampment. Tyrion knew just enough Ghiscari to understand the words, but the fear in his voice would have been plain in any tongue. I know how he feels.

And that’s it. Ever content to tease his loyal readers, Martin only lets us know that Tyrion is alive and apparently in the vicinity of a sizable battle. Not an ideal place for the Lannister imp, but a mite bit better than the dungeon the fourth season of Game of Thrones will find him in.

Whereas viewers of the Game of Thrones HBO series have been waiting since July of last year for the fourth season, readers of the A Song of Ice and Fire series – of which A Game of Thrones is the title of the first entry – have been waiting for new material from Martin since the fifth book’s release in 2011. The last entry, A Dance with Dragons, left a number of characters in dire straits, a coup or two there, some broken dreams here, and some characters continuing the only path they really could have.

Entertainment Weekly was quick to point out that this will not be the only snippet Martin releases to sate readers’ cravings. A forthcoming update to the World of Ice and Fire app on iOS and Android will contain yet another preview chapter.

Martin has previously released snippets of the sixth Game of Thrones title, including a chapter that follows Arianne Martel. “Just who is Arianne Martel?” some may ask. To those, we’d say, get started reading. If you pick up the first book now, you’ll likely have finished by the time the Game of Thrones show enters its fourth season. And given Martin’s laid back approach to pushing out new texts, you may well have finished the fifth book just in time for the sixth to see yet another publishing delay. Only then will you know our pain.