'The Winds of Winter' release date, plot news: TV series may have revealed major plot turns in next book

"The Winds of Winter" is arguably one of the most anticipated novels in recent history, especially after the preceding book left a major character's life hanging in the balance.

Author George R. R. Martin stated earlier this year that some of the plots in the upcoming sixth installment to his massively popular epic fantasy series, "A Song of Ice and Fire," would be incorporated into the sixth season of the TV adaptation airing on HBO.

When Jon Snow's presumed death in the fifth book, "A Dance of Dragons," was ultimately reversed in the second episode of "Game of Thrones" season 6 that aired in April, fans wondered if this could be one of the plot turns in "The Winds of Winter" that Martin was referring to.

Fans will have to wait a bit longer to find out since an official release date for the fifth book has yet to be announced and a source speculated that it's probably too late for a 2016 release.

Recent rumors claimed a March 9, 2017 release owing to a placeholder page that appeared, and was later taken down, on Amazon France.

Martin's U.S. publisher, Random House, has since clarified via Entertainment Weekly that "The Winds of Winter" does not yet have an official publication date. They also cautioned eager fans that any on-sale dates that may currently be up online are not official. A confirmed publication date will come from them once it's been set.

Martin has also promised his fans that as soon as he finishes writing "The Winds of Winter" he will announce it himself on his regularly updated official blog, Not A Blog.

This is not the first time that an installment for the "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series has been delayed. Although the first three books were released without a hitch in a span of four years, fans have had to wait five years before the fourth book, "A Feast of Crows," came out, and another five years for the fifth book, "A Dance of Dragons."

It has now been six years since the last book came out in 2011, and in February this year he claimed in a reply to a fan comment on his official blog that aside from the editing work he's doing for "Wild Cards," he was putting all of his other writing projects on hold to focus on "The Winds of Winter."

Moreover, David Benioff, one of the executive producers of "Game of Thrones," has also claimed in another article on Entertainment Weekly that although some of the events in the TV adaptation may be similar to those of the upcoming book, "Game of Thrones" would also be diverging from "The Winds of Winter" in various ways.

In an interview with Smarter Travel back in 2012, Martin stated that story thread that was left hanging in the previous book would be resolved in the earlier parts of "The Winds of Winter." He added that the sixth book will open with the two big battles that he had been building up in "A Dance of Ice and Fire."

So despite the sixth season of the "Game of Thrones" having concluded with a handful of major revelations, there sure is still a lot that fans of "A Song of Ice and Fire" can look forward to when "The Winds of Winter" finally comes out. In the meantime, fans can read a preview chapter from the upcoming book on Martin's official site.