'The Winds of Winter' release date, rumors: Will George R.R. Martin finish penultimate 'A Song of Ice and Fire' novel next year?

The long wait is far from over, but at least, there's finally a little light at the end of the long and dark tunnel.

George R.R. Martin's "The Winds of Winter" will be finished soon, and "soon" may be sooner than what most fed-up fans might think, but not soon enough to make it in time for an early 2017 release.

The sixth "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel was previously plagued with rumors of cancellation, but a recent statement from the author himself about his plans for next year, in a blog post on his Livejournal account, could finally silence these fears.

In talking about his participation in the Guadalajara International Book Fair in late November, he also gave a tidbit about his progress with "The Winds of Winter."

"This is my last scheduled event for 2016. My appearance schedule for 2017 is very limited, and will remain so until WINDS is completed. So if you want to meet me or get a book signed, this will be the last chance for a good few months," the author mentioned.

According to Comic Book, "a good few months" meant there was a lot of work to do before Martin would finish "The Winds of Winter." However, even the rough estimate provided by the author, who is known for his "it will be done when it's done" philosophy, should be appreciated by the fans. Being able to refer to the progress of his work in terms of months could mean that the completion of the manuscript is finally in sight.

The sixth installment in the high fantasy book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" has been in the works for the past five years. However, after six seasons of the TV adaptation of the book series and even with the wild anticipation from the fans, Martin still has yet to finish "The Winds of Winter" manuscript. The development of the book has taken so long that the TV show's story timeline had surpassed that of the timeline of the novels.

Although "The Winds of Winter" is still far up ahead into the future, fans of the book series and the TV series adaptation, meanwhile, can look forward to (with absolute certainty) the debut of "Game of Thrones" season 7 on HBO in 2017.