Fans had their hopes up that "Winds of Winter" would be released last 2016. But things did not favor this expectation as the much-awaited sequel to the "Game of Thrones" story was not launched on the said year. Followers are now pointing the reason for the delay is the novel being too long.
In a discussion thread at Reddit, one fan pointed out the book would definitely be over the 1,500-page mark. While "Game of Thrones" debuted in a 1,000-page "A Song of Ice and Fire," it was succeeded by sequels with increasing page numbers.
"A Clash of Kings" is 1,100 pages, "A Storm of Swords" is 1,400 pages, "A Feast of Crows" is 1,100 pages and "A Dance with the Dragons" is 1,500 pages. Though "A Feast of Crows" seem to break the increasing trend, the fan pointed out the sequel to "Storm of Swords" is a combination of "Feast of Crows" and "Dance with Dragons." This makes the whole sequel a total of 2,600 pages.
With the 2,600 page-mark of the latest sequel, "Winds of Water" has at least to be at par. But according to the fan, in order for the book's release to push through in 2017, the page count has to be cut down to 1,500.
To achieve the number of pages to this figure would require a 40 percent reduction. Reducing the manuscript pages would require cutting down of some characters' point of views, those characters who are at an exact same location, and those who are already dead but POVs were still discussed in the novel.
Unfortunately, these will not be enough to reach the 40 percent reduction according to the fan. Factoring all these changes would only decrease the book's page numbers to roughly 2,120. Previously, George R.R. Martin confirmed during the Guadalajara International Book Fair that "Winds of Winter" will be a dark book.
"There are a lot of dark chapters right now in the book that I'm writing," Mashable quoted the author as saying. "You know, it is called 'The Winds of Winter,' and I've been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming."
Martin added that it is during winter when things die, and cold and darkness dominates the world. He went on to say that fans should not expect that it will be a happy, feel-good book.
For other details about "Winds of Winter," check the video below.