'The Winds of Winter' release date, spoilers: George R.R. Martin still struggling to finish despite release of spoiler chapter

The Winds of WinterWikipedia/Bantam Spectra

With all the fans still impatiently waiting for the release of "The Winds of Winter," it has become clear that George R.R. Martin is still far from its completion. However, those who can't get enough of the books need not stay forlorn--he just released a new chapter teaser from the novel last week, as well as a report for the book's current progress on his own website.

For those who haven't finished HBO's "Game of Thrones" series, this is a spoiler warning.

In the excerpt he provided, the new chapter is set in Dorne, and the characters followed in this chapter include those who have been recently killed in the television series. Unfortunately, while there is in fact progress for the novel, this spoiler chapter doesn't mean that the book is already close to its completion--in fact, Martin even said in his blog that:

"...The sample will give you a taste. For the rest, you will need to wait. And no, just to spike any bullsh-- rumors, changing the sample chapter does NOT mean I am done..."

Speculations by various dissatisfied fans state that the reason why Martin is taking too slow is because of procrastination--his Twitter account reveals his posts about various other matters like the NFL draft.

With that being said, he might even be getting help from another fantasy novel writer, Neil Gaiman. In a recent article written in the Parent Herald, Gaiman was recently in Martin's hometown, and a lot of speculations say that the "American Gods" author might lend a hand in finishing off "The Winds of Winter".

However, while this rumor was denied by Gaiman, a lot of fans are still suspicious about him being a co-author for "The Winds of Winter." In any case, in an exclusive interview by Time Out, he said that it was frustrating for him not to watch the series until the last book came out when spoilers are everywhere.