Next Game of Thrones book The Winds of Winter won't be out until 2016

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George RR MartinImage source, AP

This is not great news if you're a fan of the Game of Thrones books.

George RR Martin's publisher says a follow-up to 2011's A Dance with Dragons won't be released this year.

It had been hoped that The Winds of Winter, from the A Song of Ice and Fire series, would be out in 2015.

But those hopes have been dashed by book publishing company, HarperCollins. "I have no information on likely delivery," Jane Johnson from the company told the Guardian, external.

"These are increasingly complex books and require immense amounts of concentration to write.

Image source, HBO
Image source, HBO

"Fans really ought to appreciate that the length of these monsters is equivalent to two or three novels by other writers."

George RR Martin had to write a blog post, external in December saying that The Winds of Winter was not being released after rumours started online.

"Somehow, from somewhere, the rumour arose that the '12 Days' were actually a countdown ... not to Xmas, but to the publication of The Winds of Winter, or the announcement of its completion and/or pub date," he wrote.

"Sorry. Not true. Look, I've said before, and I will say again, I don't play games with news about the books.

Image source, HBO
Image source, HBO

"I know how many people are waiting, how long they have been waiting, how anxious they are. I am still working on Winds. When it's done, I will announce it here.

"There won't be any clues to decipher, any codes or hidden meanings, the announcement will be straightforward and to the point.

"I won't time it to coincide with Xmas or Valentine's Day or Lincoln's Birthday, the book will not rise from the dead with Jesus on Easter Sunday.

"When it is done, I will say that's it is done, on whatever day I happen to finish. I don't know how I can make it any clearer."

A trailer for the fifth series of the TV adaptation was released on Friday on the Game of Thrones Facebook page, external.

It premieres on Sky Atlantic on 13 April.

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