Fans of George R.R. Martin's "Winds of Winter" will have to wait a bit longer because the release date of the next book in the highly acclaimed "A Song of Ice and Fire" series has yet to be announced.

In discussing his next book, Martin disclosed that he intends to resolve storylines left hanging from "A Dance with Dragons". The renowned author divulged that these issues will be settled "very early" in "The Winds of Winter".

"I'm going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen-the battle of Slaver's Bay. And then take it from there," Martin shared.

Pressed to announce a certain date for the release of his next book, Martin explained his reluctance in an interview with KNME-TV at Jean Cocteau Cinema.

"I've actually given up answering the question "when will it be done?" In the early days, especially after the third book, because the fourth book took a really long time, and I kept being wrong. People said when will it be done, and I'd give an answer and it would not be done by then, I would run into some problem, or decide to rewrite, or I would change course. And once you give a date and then you miss that date, there's an element of the audience that thinks you're doing it deliberately," the author justified.

Keen to complete his book, Vulture reported that Martin will not write an episode for the fifth season of the popular TV series "Game of Thrones".

"Not this year, no - once again because I have this book to finish," he was quoted saying in the interview.

The "Winds of Winter" is the sixth book in the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series. The earlier books are "A Game of Thrones", "A Clash of Kings", "A Storm of Swords", "A Feast for Crows", and "A Dance with Dragons". The seventh and last book of the series is entitled "A Dream of Spring".