‘The Winds of Winter’ Release Date, Spoilers: Round-Up of Latest Updates, Plot Theories, Launch Date Speculations

Many sci-fi book fans around the world are still waiting for the big news on “The Winds of Winter” — its release date. While that is not out in the wild yet, here are the latest official updates, spoilers, and launch date speculations circulating online.

Latest Updates

In a nutshell, “The Winds of Winter” is still in the works. But author George R. R. Martin said in a recent interview that he also wishes he had finished the book several years ago.

“I'm working on [‘The Winds of Winter’],” Martin told The Hollywood Reporter a few weeks ago. “And I wish I'd been done four years ago, but I'm slow and the book is very complex, although there are a lot of great distractions out there.”

The gap between “The Winds of Winter” and its predecessor, “A Dance with Dragons,” is now the longest hiatus in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” book saga. The latter was originally released in July 2011.

In the same year, the massively popular TV series adaptation of his books, HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” also debuted on air. GameSpot noted that 2011 was a hectic year for Martin but fans started hoping that “The Winds of Winter” will be released soon as the author published different teaser chapters of the sixth book online and in the paperback edition of “A Dance with Dragons.”

Plot Spoilers, Theories

Aside from the release date, fans are very curious about what will happen in “The Winds of Winter.” While many assume that “Game of Thrones” season 7 spoils the book, Martin assures fan that the TV series does not have everything. So waiting for the book is still worth it.

For one, the author confirmed that there are more characters killed in the TV series than in “The Winds of Winter.” It is possible that, because of the fast-paced storytelling on TV, it was easier to provide proper closure by killing off characters.

In the case of “The Winds of Winter,” there are speculations that it might have as many as 1,500 pages. It gives Martin more chances to elaborate on the fate of major and minor characters.

Meanwhile, the most interesting plot-related update Martin has confirmed so far is about Lady Stoneheart. The zombified persona of Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) was not even mentioned in the TV series. But the author previously affirmed that she is very much alive and holds an important part in “The Winds of Winter.”

Launch in 2019?

Martin does not reveal anything specific about his progress in writing “The Winds of Winter.” So, fans are practically clueless.

After many delays, fans were hoping that “The Winds of Winter” will come out in 2018. But that was already dismissed by Martin in an online post earlier this year.

With not much of an option, book lovers can only hope that “The Winds of Winter” comes out in 2019. Then, the wait for the final installment, “A Dream of Spring,” will commence.