• 'The Winds of Winter' is the sixth novel in George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire.

'The Winds of Winter' is the sixth novel in George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire. (Photo : YouTube/WindsThrones)

The much-anticipated book "Winds of Winter" is about to be released. There are rumors claiming that author George R. R. Martin may expand the series after "A Dream of Spring."

Originally, "Winds of Winter" was scheduled to be released in October 2015. Due to various writing engagements and public appearances, Martin could not finish the book so he postponed its release to March. Unfortunately, the author did not manage to finish the book in time for the new launch date.

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Martin reportedly has finished writing the book and it is expected to hit the shelves in January 2017 as the processes of editing and proof-reading will take some time. The author also released numerous sample chapters of the book in the past few weeks, which led fans to believe that the book is finally complete.

After "Winds of Winter," the next title in the series is "A Dream of Spring," which was supposed to be the last part of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Martin said that he may change his mind and write more books after "A Dream of Spring."

Rumors claim that "A Dream of Spring" is also almost finished and it may be released before the premiere of "Game of Thrones" Season 7. Martin has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors. 

In other news, the TV adaptation of the book series is expected to have just one more season. The creators of the show revealed in an interview with Deadline that they had originally planned to wrap up the series in around 73-75 hours. Out of these, 60 hours have already been claimed in the six seasons.

This means that the creators can only shoot one more season. Still, the extreme popularity of the show may convince the creators, producers and directors to extend the series by another season.

Watch the following video to know more about the sample "Winds of Winter" chapters: