'Game of Thrones' fans have been looking forward to the official release date of "Winds of Winter,' and it seems that the penultimate novel in the "A Song of Ice and Fire' series will be released in 2016.
The report comes from a Spanish radio interview with an editor at the publishing house that owns the Spanish rights to the series.
Alejo Cuervo, also an acquaintance of George R.R. Martin, stated that "The Winds of Winter' is expected to be published within the next year, "unless a meteorite falls".
"It's planned for next year," Cuervo assured the radio host. "They have promised us that they will give us the manuscript before the release date in English, but it won't be a big difference [between the dates]."
This could suggest that the book might hit the shelves before the sixth season of "Game of Thrones' begins next April.
Martin has, however, been known for delaying publishing deadlines. Fans of the "A Song of Ice and Fire' series had to wait for five years between the publication of the third and fourth books, followed by six more years until the fifth novel was released in 2011.
Since "Game of Thrones' began airing on HBO in 2011, it has been noticeable that the pace of the critically acclaimed TV series would go beyond Martin's ability to come up with new books.
Looking into the last season, the HBO series had finally caught up with the published content.
"Anything is possible," Martin said as he acknowledged the likelihood that the fantasy drama series continues to press on like a "jet locomotive." "They're writing 60-page scripts, I'm writing 1,500-page novels," he said. "So who the hell knows?"
The award-winning author also admitted that he had been worried about the TV adaptation coming to an end first before his own books. However, he later on realized that worrying would not prevent this possibility.
"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," he shared. "I'm just going to tell my story, and they're telling their story and adapting my books, and we shall see."
Especially tiresome are fans who have been concerned about Martin possibly dying even before he finishes the seventh and final novel in the series, tentatively titled "A Dream of Spring.'
"I find that question pretty offensive, people speculating about my death and my health," the 66-year-old author told the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger.
Meanwhile, HBO's "Game of Thrones' season six is expected to premiere in April 2016 as well.
