George R.R. Martin, the author of the Game of Thrones series, has confirmed that the sixth installment will NOT be published before the next series airs.
Martin stated on his blog that ‘The Winds of Winter’ is not finished, and shared his disappointment that he failed to meet the 31st of December 2015 deadline.
Martin wrote, “THE WINDS OF WINTER is not finished. Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words. You’re disappointed, and you’re not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed… but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me. For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, “I have completed and delivered THE WINDS OF WINTER” on or before the last day of 2015″.
He continued, “But the book’s not done. Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week. Yes, there’s a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters. (Those ‘no pages done’ reports were insane, the usual garbage internet journalism that I have learned to despise). But there’s also a lot still left to write. I am months away still… and that’s if the writing goes well. (Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t.) Chapters still to write, of course… but also rewriting. I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures.”
Martin went on to say that he had met with HBO bosses, who air Game of Thrones, and assuming that the show would return to our screens in April, then ‘The Winds of Winter’ would need to be published by the end of March by the latest. To allow for this to happen, Martin’s manuscript would need to have been completed by October 2015, although he was later given an extension to New Year’s Eve. Despite thinking it was doable at the time, the deadline came and the book was nowhere near completion.
This is the first time that the viewers of Game of Thrones will be ahead of the readers, as until now, the books have always been ahead of the television series. Many die-hard fans have been left questioning whether the new series will spoil the book when it’ll eventually be released, to which Martin replied, “Maybe. Yes and no. For years, my readers have been ahead of the viewers. This year, for some things, the reverse will be true. How you want to handle that… hey, that’s up to you”.
The fact that Martin failed to meet the deadline will disappoint many, however, without spoiling either the show or book, Martin stated that things in the book and TV show aren’t always the same, therefore, the book will still be worth waiting for after the new series of Game of Thrones airs.
Martin said, “Game of Thrones is the most popular television series in the world right now. The most pirated as well. It just won a record number of Emmy Awards, including the ultimate prize, for the best drama on television. It’s an incredible production with an incredible cast and crew. ‘Winds of Winter’ should be pretty good too, when it comes out. As good as I can make it, anyway.”
As the saying goes, all good things are worth waiting for! For the time being, we’ll have to put our excitement into the hotly anticipated new TV series of Game of Thrones, due in late April.