George R.R. Martin is releasing a new "Game of Thrones" book on Oct. 28, but it is not the "The Winds of Winter" that fans of his "A Song of Ice and Fire" have all been waiting for. Instead, he is launching a compendium titled "The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones." As for when readers can expect the sixth book from his novel series, the 65-year-old author cannot really tell.
"I've given up making any predictions on that," Martin candidly told Digital Spy at a reader's event sponsored by Tesco's eBook service, blinkbox Books, last month. I'm just writing it and when it's done, it'll be done."
The Bayonne, New Jersey-born writer also denied that his work on the TV adaptation was delaying the books. "The TV show has nothing to do with my progress or lack of it. It's its own thing," he said.
But he admitted that he finds himself revising materials he has recently written, and this is apparently one of the reasons why the last two books of his novel series were delayed.
"I don't know, I have days where I make lots of progress, I have days where I make next to no progress, I have days where I think I'm going backwards because I don't like what I wrote yesterday, he revealed.
In a move to finish "The Winds of Winter" the soonest, Martin decided not to write any scripts for the upcoming fifth season of "Game of Thrones."
"I'm not writing a script for season 5, but I'm still a co-executive producer, so I'm still involved on that level," said Martin. "It takes me about three weeks to a month to write a script, and with all the pressure to finish and deliver 'The Winds of Winter,' I decided my time was better spent finishing the book than taking off three weeks to a month to get a script done."
This is the first season Martin will not write an episode for the hit HBO show. He wrote the script for "The Pointy End" in Season 1, "Blackwater" in Season 2, "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" in Season 3, and "The Lion and the Rose" in Season 4.
Last July, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger boldly asked Martin for comments about those people who thinks he will pass away before he finishes the last two installments of his novel series. And the author bluntly replied, "I find it pretty offensive when people start to speculate about my death and my health, so 'f-k you' to those people."
"The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones" is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and HBO's 'Game of Thrones,'" according to its synopsis posted on Brooklyn Vegan.