'Winds of Winter' still 'months' from completion; Author hints 2018 release

George RR Martin has given another update on “Winds of Winter.” The author slammed reports suggesting he has already finished the book, but is not releasing it for a “nefarious reason." There were also reports suggesting he has not written any pages at all. The author said these allegations were all made up.

The author said that the rumors about his upcoming book were “equally false and equally moronic.” The book is not yet complete, Martin said, but he has been working on it and will continue to do so.

The book is still “months” away from being completed, Martin said in his blog post. The author is not sure how much longer fans will have to wait. “I still have good days and bad days, and that's all I care to say,” he said. He had previously said that he tends to rewrite a lot of the chapters, and thinks of improvements to his work every day, which may be one of the reasons for the delay.

Martin did, however, tease a 2018 release date for the next book in “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. The author has another book coming out next year, which is a fake history of the Targaryens. He teased that he is not sure which of the two books will hit shelves first.

The fake Targaryen history has so much material that it will be published in two volumes, the first of which will be released by late 2018 or early 2019 with the title “Fire and Blood.” Martin hopes to have both “Fire and Blood” and “Winds of Winter” released in 2018. This, too, the author is not sure about. “A boy can dream...” he wrote in his post.