'Winds of Winter' release date, plot rumors: Delay due to plans of releasing sixth and seventh books together?

Some fans of George R.R. Martin's book series, "A Song of Ice and Fire," may now be succumbing to a lot of nail-biting and perhaps even hair-pulling. Many have expressed online their frustrations in waiting for the next book, "The Winds of Winter," with its release getting pushed back time and again.

This has only encouraged a lot of speculations about the upcoming sixth installment. Fans on Reddit have conjectured that the delay, which has been unusually long, could possibly be stemming from a planned double release of the sixth book, "The Winds of Winter," and the seventh, "A Dream of Spring."

No official statement has been reported on this possibility, although the writing of two books may explain the great delay. Yet, it would seem a slim possibility, as the author has not even mentioned working on the seventh book.

The beleaguered wordsmith, however, has announced on his LiveJournal that he will be present at the World Science Fiction Convention, the prime event for science fiction and fantasy genres including television shows, films, and books. It will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, on Aug. 17 to 21.

Besides some signing of books and other items, the writer said he will also be participating in "panels, a reading, maybe some other stuff."

The last part caught the attention of some sharp-witted followers of the book series who believe that the "other stuff" may be the big reveal of "The Winds of Winter" that thousands of Martin fans are hankering after.

As to what readers and fans of the "Ice and Fire" series can expect from the next installment, Martin previously promised that he will deal with the two big battles which were excluded previously in "A Dance with Dragons," the one on ice and the battle of Slaver's Bay.

it will also include the Victarion Greyjoy chapter, a sample of which he has posted on his website and shared at a reading. The next book will also find Arianne Martell traveling to Griffin's Roost to seek out Aegon.

Some calculations put the release of "The Winds of Winter" sometime in 2017.