George R.R. Martin Teases ‘The Winds Of Winter,’ ‘Fire And Blood’ 2018 Release In Hopeful Holiday Greetings
George R.R. Martin is certainly taking a well-deserved Christmas break after a full year of working on several projects. However, fans are still hoping that the author’s thoughts are with his highly anticipated novel The Winds of Winter. Martin recently posted his holiday greetings to family, friends, and readers to celebrate the incoming year. Naturally, people believe the message contained a hopeful update on the sixth A Song of Ice and Fire book as well as the Targaryen bible Fire and Blood.
2017 has truly been an eventful year for George R.R. Martin as the seventh season of Game of Thrones was followed with an announcement that there would be five different spin-off shows based in the world of Westeros. In addition to that, the author was still hounded by impatient fans who are still waiting for The Winds of Winter release date.
Not surprisingly, George R.R. Martin decided to address the delay by confirming he will also be publishing the monster-sized collection of Targaryen tales Fire and Blood. He also revealed that there is a possibility that the book formerly known as GRRMarillion might be released ahead of the sixth ASOIAF novel. But is there hope that The Winds of Winter will be available by 2018 as well? Martin’s holiday message posted on his LiveJournal might be an indirect nod to the past and future of the highly anticipated tome.
“I look forward to the new year. I thought 2016 was a bad year, but 2017 was even worse.”
Fans would remember that The Winds of Winter was initially expected to be released by November 2016. Unfortunately, George R.R. Martin was unable to finish his manuscript and the release date has been delayed even further by other projects. Nevertheless, the writer concludes his post on a high note by stating, “I hope better times are ahead for all of us.” People believe Martin might be hinting at some good news in 2018 now that he has a new pet tortoise to help him write faster.
My minions gave me a new baby tortoise to keep Morla company. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Miss Morla's new baby brother, GAMERA! pic.twitter.com/6map2ObEoh
— George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) December 22, 2017
The Winds of Winter release date is still unknown, although there are speculations that the book will be published next year. After all, HBO is already delaying the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 8, giving George R.R. Martin some time to catch up with the TV series. Hopefully, an announcement about ASOIAF‘s Book 6 as well as Fire and Blood will be made in early 2018.
