Winds of Winter release date news 2016: Launch still uncertain, George R.R. Martin already done with writing latest installment?

Since "A Dance of Dragons" hit the shelves back in 2011, fans have been waiting for a long time to get their hands on the next installment in George R. R. Martin's famed "A Song of Fire and Ice" book series.

HBO's TV adaptation "Game of Thrones" recently wrapped up its sixth season with a record-breaking finale, which means fans will have to wait for another year to see what's in store for their favorite characters.

Rumor has it that Martin already finished the book but has not yet released it publicly for unknown reasons. As of now, Martin has been keeping fans interested by releasing a number of snippets from different chapters of the latest installment. He has reportedly given away a lot of excerpts from the book to the point that it could already be compiled into an e-book. This further fuels the speculation that "Winds of Winter" is finished, but still, Martin has yet to confirm if the rumors were true.

Through Martin's LiveJournal account, he previously expressed his grievances over not finishing the book on time. He admits feeling bad about letting down a lot of people and mostly fans, explaining how difficult it is to tell when he will be done with writing. "You're disappointed, and you're not alone," he wrote. "My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed... but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me. For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, 'I have completed and delivered The Winds of Winter' on or before the last day of 2015. But the book's not done. Nor is it likely to be finished tomorrow, or next week. 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."

The best-selling author further added that the series will be ahead of the book, and now that the two worlds have diverged, there is nothing he can do about it. "The show moved faster than I anticipated and I moved more slowly," a part of his blog post read.

As of now, fans can only hope that "The Winds of Winter" will be out before a new season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" premieres next year.