‘Winds of Winter’ Release Date: George R.R. Martin Teases Fans, Says He's in No Hurry to Finish Book

George R.R. Martin has not given any updates on his highly anticipated book, "Winds of Winter," the sixth book in the seven-book series titled "A Song of Ice and Fire," leading fans to hope that he might be busy putting the final touches before the book gets published.

Since nothing new has surfaced, here is a recap of what we do know about the rest of the book series.

1. Stannis Baratheon is Alive!

Martin revealed via his blog, Not a Blog, under the "Off to Spokane" post that in his books, Baratheon is "alive beyond a doubt."

In season five of "Games of Thrones," the HBO series that is based off of Martin's books, viewers watched as Baratheon seemingly gets killed by Brienne of Tarth.

2. Princess Arianne Martell will be involved

When Martin attended the Sasquan science-fiction convention in Spokane, Washington, he read a chapter from "Winds of Winter," according to GeekWire. The chapter was written from the point of view of Princess Arianne Martell from Dorne.

Arianne, who is the eldest daughter of Prince Dorane of Dorne, has not been introduced in the HBO series but she has been mentioned throughout the books. In the books, she welcomes Myrcella Baratheon, who is supposed to marry Trystane Martell, Prince Dorne's youngest son.

3. "Games of Thrones" might end before the Series

Even though Martin does not like to answer questions about when his book will be finished, he did address the possibility that "Games of Thrones" will finish before his seventh and final book.

"Anything is possible. The show is moving forward like a locomotive, or sometimes a jet locomotive. They're writing 60-page scripts, I'm writing 1,500-page novels. So who the hell knows?" Martin said. "There was a period where I was worried about that," Martin said. "Then I said, to hell with that. Worrying about it isn't going to change it one way or another. I still sit down at the typewriter, and I have to write the next scene and the next sentence...I'm just going to tell my story, and they're telling their story and adapting my books, and we shall see. "

Michael Lombardo, HBO president, hinted in August that "Games of Thrones" might end after season eight.

4. Ending will be "bittersweet"

Even though Martin has not started on his seventh book, he knows that he ending will be "bittersweet." Martin revealed that he would model his ending behind the ending of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

"I haven't written the ending yet, so I don't know, but no. That's certainly not my intent. I've said before that the tone of the ending that I'm going for is bittersweet. I mean, it's no secret that Tolkien has been a huge influence on me, and I love the way he ended 'Lord of the Rings,'" Martin said. "It ends with victory, but it's a bittersweet victory."

5. Plot Twist

Earlier in the year, Martin revealed that he might or might not include a huge plot twist for one of the story's major characters. The twist would also affect three to four other characters.

"This is going to drive your readers crazy but I love it. I'm still weighing whether to go that direction or not. It's a great twist," he said.

Since Martin teased about the twist, he has not commented on whether or not he added it to the book.

With no release date announced for "Winds of Winter," fans can only hope that the book will come out very soon. Some rumors believe that it will definitely be released before the start of season six of "Games of Thrones."