Winds of Winter release date, plot news: Next book will have more shock value?

George R.R. Martin has been getting a lot of flak from his fans about the release of the next book in his "Song of Ice and Fire" series, "The Winds of Winter," and it looks like fans will have something different in store by the time the sixth book rolls out in bookstores.

Reports are saying that the "Winds of Winter" will be deviating from the first book and will be delivering a lot more "shock value" to the readers.

In the first book, "Game of Thrones," George R.R. Martin cleverly created a "false-protagonist" in Ned Stark in order to shock audiences when the book had him killed near the end.The move led readers to think that "no character was safe;" by doing so, Martin was able to deviate from a common trope prevalent in most fantasy stories — the lead character will never die.

So far, Martin's book series has been somewhat "cruel" to its main characters. Tyrion the dwarf came out more deformed after the Battle of Blackwater, Jamie Lannister loses his hand, and the Stark's have been killed off brutally one by one.

Fans have found the experience to be bittersweet. Though they hate seeing their favorite characters befall such horrifying fates, the amount of intrigue and excitement is at an all-time high whenever a character is in danger.

As of now, Martin has reportedly dropped all his other appointments in order to work on "Winds of Winter." However, he is also working on another book series called "Wild Cards," and reports are saying that the series is going to be adapted for television as well.

A lot of fans are eagerly waiting for the "Winds of Winter" book. Martin has taken so much time writing it that the HBO series has already caught up, and eventually started showing material that was never in the books.

No official release date has been given for "Winds of Winter," but fans are hoping that it will arrive sometime next year.