'The Winds of Winter' release date news update: 6th book not expected until 'Game of Thrones' Season 7 premiere; 'GOTs: Enhanced Edition' now available on iBook

Earlier this year, there were rumors that the sixth book of the highly popular fantasy adventure series "A Song of Ice and Fire" will be released before the end of 2016. However, as the third quarter of the year passed by, there are still no words regarding the possible book launch of "The Winds of Winter." The fans may have to wait longer as the renowned author behind the successful book series, George R. R. Martin, has plenty of things to do. According to the latest prediction, "The Winds of Winter" will not be out until the seventh season premiere of HBO's "Game of Thrones."

According to reports, "The Winds of Winter" is getting less likely to arrive later this year. The most likely scenario is the book being released before the start of the new "Game of Thrones" season in mid 2017.

Regarding the delay in the book's release, some fans have started to grow impatient as the TV version of Martin's novels is now ahead of the books. The author defended himself in an interview as he claims to have a huge load of work to finish aside from the last remaining parts of "A Song of Ice and Fire."

"I do have thousands of pages of fake history of everything that led up to 'Game of Thrones,' so there's a lot of material there and I'm writing more. At the moment we still have this show to finish and I still have two books to finish," Martin revealed via Yibada.

"The Winds of Winter" is supposed to be the source material for the recently concluded "Game of Thrones" Season 6. However, it now appears that the book version will have to keep up with the current events in the TV series. There will be some differences between the two versions as to avoid possible spoiling of the plotline of "The Winds of Winter."

Martin is surely having a very tight schedule that keeps him from finishing "The Winds of Winter," not to mention the seventh and final book of the series initially titled "A Dream of Spring."

Just recently, Martin signed a deal with Apple to release "A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition" on iBooks, The Guardian reported. Last September 29, the enhanced e-book versions of Martin's novel were released, marking the 20^{th anniversary of his epic fantasy series. "A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition" is being sold at $8.99 per copy.}