While "The Winds of Winter" is yet to be released, its sequel "A Dream of Spring" is receiving a lot of speculation when it will actually show up. Rumors claim that George R.R. Martin is planning to release eight books for his highly acclaimed fantasy series.
With regards to the release of "The Winds of Winter," Martin himself said that the book will be published before the sixth season of the popular TV series, "Game of Thrones". According to Venture Capital Post, it is more likely that the sixth installment of Martin's series will be hit the stores sometime in the first quarter of 2016.
According to iDigital Times, Martin has even hinted that his next book, "A Dream of Spring," might be finished by November.
As for the rumor that Martin is planning to end the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series in eight books, many were skeptical about it citing the novels' close affinity to the number seven. In the series, there is the Seven Kingdoms and a seven pointed star representing the Seven Gods. Based on that symmetry, it would be logical to assume that the series will be finished in seven books.
However, there are devoted fans who pointed out that the series was suppose to be trilogy but ended up having several sequels and base on that they argue that Martin might be persuaded to write an eighth book or maybe even more.
As for the "Game of Thrones" TV series, the show has already keep up with the books it was based from. The show's producer has even altered some of the story's plotline and the TV series is slowly heading into a different direction.