George RR Martin always says that when "Winds of Winter" is complete and ready for publication, he himself will be the one to break the news. Sadly, the bestselling author remains silent about the outing of the much-anticipated title, which fans have been twiddling thumbs for half a decade now.
But the clues peppered on the internet, though far from locking in a solid release date, and help fanatics of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga determine how long they still have to wait before they get a hold of the tome and gorge on the story in all its glory.
It has always been said that "Winds of Winter" will be released before "Game of Thrones" season 6, which is currently in production and premieres around April next year. That means in a few months' time, "Winter" can finally be taking root and in a matter of weeks, concrete release date news could finally arrive.
Although the physical complete book is not around yet, iDigital Times says that the award-winning HBO fantasy drama will still be based on the upcoming book simply because Martin reportedly provided a manuscript and story pointers for the writers to outline the season with.
With no info available about the book, it will be equally tough for fans of the series to know what the future holds for Westeros. But the aforementioned site says that the fact that a manuscript has been allegedly provided means it wouldn't take long before Martin completes "Winds of Winter."
The much-awaited book serves as the penultimate volume in the popular saga. The seventh and final one will be "A Dream of Spring," whose plot remains a bigger secret than that of "Winds of Winter."
However, Finn Jones, who plays the role of Ser Loras Tyrell in "Game of Thrones," tries his hand at figuring out how it all ends. He believes that in usual Martin fashion, the books will conclude with no one on the Iron Throne and Westeros subject to all-out warfare, only to be punctuated by some agents of peace.
"A lot of people will die and out of the ashes will come the tree people and a select few people will grow and give back power to the people," the actor said at the New York Comic Con via Christian Post.
"Dream of Spring will be about regrowth. It'll be Bran, Brienne, Tyrion, just some good guys to bring piece back to the realm," he added. Whether or not Jones hits the mark remains will only be revealed after more years of waiting.
Meanwhile, as Martin already said, he is very much against a bloodbath for an ending and the author says the sprawling story will culminate to a "bittersweet" scene.