Does the next Game of Thrones book FINALLY have a release date?

Amazon France may have let it slip...

Breaking news for Game of Thrones fans – we might finally know when the next book is out.

Eagle-eyed fans spotted that Amazon France accidentally leaked the publication date for The Winds of Winter, revealing that it’s scheduled for release on 9th March 2017.

For those of you who have only watched the TV show, this is big news. Author George RR Martin is notoriously slow when it comes to his writing. In fact, Martin has worked on the A Song of Ice and Fire series now for two decades but has still yet to finish it.

http://giphy.com/gifs/wPOARRtwuFG0

The upcoming sixth book, The Winds of Winter, has been long in the writing. Book five, A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011 – the same year as the smash hit HBO series started. If Amazon France’s leaked publication date is true, it means that fans will have had to wait an excruciating six years to read the next instalment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Martin has already missed several of his publishing deadlines for the next instalment of Game of Thrones. The writer was given an extension on The Winds of Winter, which was originally slated for publication last October but was later pushed back until the end of the year.

However, Martin took to his blog to tell fans that he wouldn’t be able to complete the long-awaited novel before the six series of the HBO television adaption. ‘Yes, there’s a lot written. Hundreds of pages. Dozens of chapters,’ he wrote on his blog on 2nd January this year. ‘But there’s also a lot still left to write. I am months away still … and that’s if the writing goes well.’

http://giphy.com/gifs/wmsjvA5UH8Xqo

It’s not known whether The Winds of Winter will follow in the same direction as the TV series, which has now overtaken the plot laid out by Martin in the books. However, showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have consulted Martin to ensure than the TV adaption follows the overall direction of the author’s vision.

So far though, even March 2017 is looking optimistic. Last month though he revealed on his blog that he still hadn’t finished The Winds of Winter, saying ‘Here I am, 20 years later… still working on book six… (and no, sorry, I have no announcement to make on that front).’

However, Martin has been making a concerted effort recently to focus on getting the book written. Having previously written scripts for the TV series, Martin has now stopped in order to focus on the novel, and has also paired back his public appearances.

Fingers crossed for March, then...