'The Winds of Winter' Release Date: Theory Suggests George R.R. Martin Might Have Secretly Finished 6th Book

Without any official word on the progress of “The Winds of Winter,” fans can only speculate on when the sixth “A Song of Ice and Fire” novel is coming out. Lately, there has been an interesting theory that suggests George R.R. Martin might have actually finished the book by now.

The said theory speculates that Martin has finished writing “The Winds of Winter” for some time now and the author has started working on the final novel, “A Dream of Spring,” as well. A report on Nerdist explains how this scenario is actually a logical strategy for Martin to embark on.

The report argues that it makes sense for Martin to put the release of “The Winds of Winter” on hold while “A Dream of Spring” is barely a novel on its own. Many would agree that the universe Martin has created for the “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga is very huge and intricate. With that, it would be an epic blunder to release the penultimate novel to the public and encounter some plot mismatches while writing the finale that may cause the author to compromise how the story ultimately ends.

It is also worth noting that “A Song of Ice and Fire” has developed a very detail-oriented fan base. For example, many fans were able to accurately predict who Jon Snow’s real parents are way before it was first confirmed in “Game of Thrones” season 7. So George R.R. Martin cannot compromise the way the story goes and ends in “A Dream of Spring” in case he can no longer alter some things in “The Winds of Winter” because it is already in stores.

Now, in this case, is George R.R. Martin going to lose a lot in terms of sales since the “Game of Thrones” TV series is already way ahead of the book saga? Nerdist's theory doesn’t have it that way, thanks to the anticipated release of a “Game of Thrones” spinoff on HBO, which Martin has also greatly helped to create.

In a way, the growing desperation to read “The Winds of Winter” is helping the upcoming spinoffs. And the new Westeros-based show on HBO is also keeping the interest up in the unreleased books as well.

The report also argues that an avid book fan is unlikely to skip the sixth and seventh novels just because “Game of Thrones” is finished on HBO. Meanwhile, disgruntled fans will undoubtedly start loving George R.R. Martin even more if the author announces the release of “The Winds of Winter” and “A Dream of Spring” together. For now, the widely speculated release dates for these books fall in 2019 and 2020, respectively.