‘Winds of Winter’ Release Date: George R.R. Martin Reveals he still has to Finish the Book

"Winds of Winter," the sixth book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series written by George R.R. Martin, is expected to come out in 2016. Although there is no official release date yet for the book, Martin hinted, via his blog, "Not a Blog" that the book is not completed.

Just a few days ago, Martin uploaded a post titled "Cinemax Orders SKIN TRADE Script." In the post, he revealed that Cinemax had ordered a pilot script to be written for his werewolf book, "The Skin Trade." After explaining why he chose Kalinda Vazquez to adapt the book, Martin revealed that he would not be able to work on the project due to his other commitment.

Martin wrote:

"Cinemax and my agents set me up for meetings with close to a dozen different TV writers, many of them very impressive, but Kalinda's take on the story and the characters blew me away. She loves the story and the world, and really seems to get Willie and Randi, and her pitch to Cinemax was one of the most polished and professional I've ever heard. I love her enthusiasm, and look forward to working with her. And no, while I would have loved to write the script and run the show myself myself, that was never really in the cards. I have this book to finish. You know the one."

Fans have been hoping that "Winds of Winter" will be released before the premiere of "Games of Thrones" season 6, which will probably be around April. The HBO TV series, which is based on Martin's books, is currently being filmed.

Since "Games of Thrones" is already caught up with Martin's books and does not have "Winds of Winter" to borrow ideas from, season six could be drastically different from Martin's vision. The TV series has already diverged from Martin's plots in the other seasons.

Martin will announce the release date for "Winds of Winter" on his blog.