‘The Winds Of Winter’ Release Date & Updates: Depressing 6th ‘ASOIAF’ Book Teased By GRRM; Fairy Tale Ending Possible?

By Regina Bishop - 08 Dec '16 04:00AM

HBO's "Game of Thrones" is approaching its seventh season with a positive note for some of the major characters. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is finally reclaiming the Iron Throne; Jon (Kit Harington) is ruling the North with his sister/cousin Sansa (Sophie Turner), plus the Stark siblings are about the get reunited soon. The same triumphs, however, cannot be said for George R.R. Martin's sixth installment of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, which the hit series was based on.

Speaking at a recent Q&A session at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico, Martin revealed that there are "a lot of dark chapters right now" in the sixth "ASoIaF" novel titled "The Winds of Winter," Entertainment Weekly reported. He stressed that he's been telling fans for 20 years that "winter was coming" and winter is "the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world."

Martin, 68, said that "The Winds of Winter" is definitely "not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for." He added that some of the characters are in "very dark places."

Martin also teased the highly-anticipated "ASoIaF" conclusion, the seventh book titled "A Dream of Spring." Fans who are hoping for a fairy tale ending for the series are bound to get disappointed because Martin described the final novel's overall flavor as "bittersweet."

A recent Reddit post revealed that "The Winds of Winter" will showcase a more heated rivalry between Varys and Littlefinger a.k.a. Lord Baelish. Martin teased that the latter has an advantage over Varys because he knows exactly what the eunuch wants. Varys, however, doesn't have the same edge because of Littlefinger's unpredictable and chaotic nature.

There is no official release date for "The Winds of Winter" yet. In a new blog post, Martin announced that he's limiting his public engagements in 2017 so he can focus on writing and finishing the sixth "ASoIaF" book. Martin has announced this before but he's still keeping some appearances because the events were settled in advance and fans have already bought tickets to see him.

"The Winds of Winter" will likely not roll out in the first quarter of 2017, given that Martin is still working on the book as of late. There's the editing process as well that could take months before the novel finally gets printed. "The Winds of Winter" was initially slated for a March 2017 release date.

What do you wish to see in "The Winds of Winter?" In "A Dream of Spring?" Share your thoughts below!