Now that the fourth season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" has been concluded, fans are asking if the sixth book in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels (where the TV series is based) will come out anytime soon.
"The Winds of Winter" is ASOIAF's forthcoming novel, but Martin has not given fans an update on his progress. It has reportedly 400 pages written so far, but the final product is expected to be approximately 1,500 pages.
This makes a number of fans think that the next season for "Game of Thrones," which is slated for next year, could even be shown ahead of the sixth book's release.
Statistical analysis blog Five Thirty Eight has recently released an interesting and entertaining piece calculating possible release of the next book. Writer Walt Hickey looked into details like the 65-year-old authors writing and publication rate, how he uses his LiveJournal blog's "Current Mood" option (it showed that Martin is often "happy" "excited," "pleased," and "cheerful), his daily word output, and even his interest in football.
Hickey capped off the article by saying something that the stats he mentioned mean nothing, but the good news is that Martin is in Santa Fe (where he usually writes) with a clear schedule. "The worst news is that my most promising finding is that he's excited," he added.
He concluded: "As always, when will George R.R. Martin release "The Winds of Winter"? Whenever he damn well pleases."
Others think that some of the possible years for release are 2015, 2016, and 2018--based on how many words Martin uses per day.
The Washington Post also joined in on the prediction party--even presented a graph--and wrote: "Since his third book, Martin's pace has been consistent - nearly 200 paperback pages' worth per year. Martin has said that he expects the final two books in the series to be about as long as A Dance with Dragons, at 1,500 manuscript pages each, or about 1,150 paperback pages"
It added: "If his pace continues, we can use the magic of linear interpolation to predict that we should see Winds of Winter come out some time in 2017, with A Dream of Spring hitting in 2023, just in time for Martin's 75th birthday."
All of these are merely predictions, so we all just have to wait and see. With the success of both the books and the HBO series, it's safe to say that Martin will once again surely deliver and provide fans with a brilliant--most probably deadly--story.
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