'Winds of Winter' release date news: Martin to finish novel before all other side projects

Author George R.R. Martin of "Winds of Winter"Reuters/George R.R. Martin

Renowned author George R.R. Martin has not given any concrete date for the release of his sixth installment of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, "The Winds of Winter." It can be said, however, that he has been adamant as of late to finish the book before anything else because of fans' persistent badgering.

Evidently, he cannot properly pursue other projects without fans nagging him to finish the sixth book in the series. "Winds of Winter" is not the only project Martin is occupied with, apparently. He also has a Wild Cards project and updates on it on the Livejournal website. When some fans saw that he was doing that instead of focusing on "Winds of Winter," they commented to express their dissatisfaction over it.

One commenter wrote, "While I am sure there are 'Wild Card' fans, I'm willing to bet 99 percent of your fans are for 'ASOIAF.' Using the popularity of that to promote 'Wild Cards' to readers who don't care about it is annoying when you haven't provided even a nugget of info about WoW in over a year. Fans are annoyed or angry because they love your work, I'm sure it's a burden but that's why you get the big bucks."

Martin replied to the commenter, "Okay, fair 'nuff, the only thing I can give that will satisfy is the finished book, and that's what I'm trying to deliver." It is affirmed therefore that Martin is set to finish his sixth masterpiece before anything else.

Fans got annoyed again when Martin's "Nightflyers" project got the greenlight from Syfy. Martin's sci-fi horror novel, which he wrote in 1980, caught Syfy's interest. However, he will not be involved in the development as he is under contract with HBO. Therefore, fans can rest easy as Martin is still going to focus his efforts on "Winds of Winter."

Will Martin be able center his attention on his penultimate novel and keep other side projects at bay?

"Winds of Winter" is expected to debut in early 2018.