‘Game of Thrones’ to be released before 6th ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ – George RR Martin

MANILA, Philippines – Author George RR Martin revealed on Saturday, January 2, that the 6th book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series won’t be published before Game of Thrones season 6 is released.

“The Winds of Winter is not finished,” said George on his blog, referring to the 6th book. (READ: George R. R. Martin unveils new ‘Game of Thrones’ chapter)

“Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week,” he continued. “Yes, there’s a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters. But there’s also a lot still left to write. I am months away still… and that’s if the writing goes well. Chapters still to write, of course… but also rewriting. I always do a lot of rewriting, sometimes just polishing, sometimes pretty major restructures.”

George explained that when the 5th season of Game of Thrones wound down in June, he and his publishers had hoped to release The Winds of Winter before season 6 was aired. (READ: Kit Harington drops major ‘Game of Thrones’ hint about Jon Snow)

But after he missed his October 31 deadline, he also missed his December 31 deadline. In the blogpost, George admitted to having trouble with deadlines in the past, as he has always finished books at his own pace.

“But I won’t make excuses. There are no excuses. No one else is to blame. Not my editors and publishers, not HBO, not [Game of Thrones co-creators] David (Benioff) and Dan (Weiss). It’s on me. I tried, and I am still trying… But no, I can’t tell you when it will be done, or when it will be published.”

“I am going back to my stance from last March, before all this,” George added. “It will be done when it’s done. And it will be as good as I can possibly make it.”

The hit TV series Game of Thrones is based off of A Song of Ice and Fire. With the TV series overtaking the number of books released, fans have been worried about the show’s storyline spoiling that of the books’. (READ: Bloodied Jon Snow in ‘Game of Thrones’ teaser)

In response to that concern, George answered, “Yes and no.”

“Some of the ‘spoilers’ you may encounter in season 6 may not be spoilers at all, because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so,” explained George. He further explained that there are characters in the books that live in the books, but are dead on the show. There are also some characters in the books that aren’t on the show.

In the April 2014 issue of Vanity Fair, Game of Thrones co-creator David said that he Dan sat down with George, and he told them how the series would end.

“I can give them the broad strokes of what I intend to write, but the details aren’t there yet. I’m hopeful that I can not let them catch up with me,” George said, in the same issue of Vanity Fair.

What do you think about what George RR Martin had to say about finishing A Song of Ice and Fire, and how it will affect the next season of Game of Thrones? Sound off in the comments! – Rappler.com