'Winds of Winter' release date news 2016: Final version headed for release early 2017? Author teases Jon Snow's parentage
The premiere of the sixth season of HBO's hit series "Game of Thrones" is almost upon the viewers, but its supposed source material, "The Winds of Winter," has still not been published. The sixth entry of renowned author George R. R. Martin to the scheduled seven-part "A Song of Fire and Ice" book series, "The Winds of Winter" is expected to contain the events that will be taking place after "Game of Thrones" Season 5 finale. Latest reports point to an early 2017 book release, although Martin has not given more information about the book's development.
Martin already announced earlier this year that "The Winds of Winter" will not be published before "Game of Thrones" Season 6 begins. Many have hoped that the book can be released during the latter half of 2016, although recent rumors suggest that there is more to be done in the book before the final version can be released early next year, Christian Daily reported,
Martin previously stated in an interview with IGN that he planned to finish "The Winds of Winter" before the Season 6 premiere of "Game of Thrones."
"Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about how quickly I can finish. But I canceled two convention appearances, I'm turning down a lot more interview-anything I can do to clear my decks and get this done," said Martin. However, it now appears that the TV series has finally overtaken the books.
The primary concern of the fans of Martin's books and the HBO fantasy TV show is the spoiling of the events in the unpublished books. As HBO is going to push through with Season 6 without "The Winds of Winter" having been printed yet, the production team has no choice but to show the contents of the book for the sake of continuity.
To address the viewers' concerns, "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Season 6 will be different from the book. Benioff has acknowledged the similarities between the show and its source material, but there will also be "major differences" that will set them apart. Also, Martin assured the fans of his original work in a separate interview with IGN that "The Winds of Winter" is not heading towards the same direction as the TV series.
"It involves a dead character, one of whom is dead in the show but not dead in the books. So the show can't do this unfortunately, because they have killed a character that I have not killed."
Meanwhile, Martin recently posted on Twitter that might have spoiled the real parentage of Jon Snow (Kit Harington). Upon garnering so much attention from his numerous followers, he eventually took it down.
"I'll give you a little hint: Jon's parents names rhyme with 'Schmobert Schmaratheon' and 'Schmatelyn Stark,'" Martin's tweet had stated. This obviously implies that Jon Snow's parents might be the late King Robert Baratheon and Catelyn Stark. However, Martin's intention in this tweet was not clear whether he was serious or joking.
