Did Game of Thrones Book Winds of Winter Release Date Leak?

Game of Thronesfans are largely a perceptive group, so it isn’t surprising that they noticed Amazon France listed a March 2017 publication date for the long-awaited sixthGeorge R.R. MartinnovelThe Winds of Winter. After all, these are the same group of fans who correctly predicted the true parentage of Jon Snow, years before it was confirmed in the Season 6 finale of the hit HBO TV series. Unfortunately, that date isn’t accurate, according to the author’s publisher.

The last update fans received about the book was back in January, whenGeorge R.R. Martinconfirmed that the sixth novel would not be published beforeGame of Thrones Season 6aired on HBO. The author revealed that he was just as disappointed as his editors and publishers, and although he was trying to finish the book either on or before the last day of 2015, that never happened. As for the fake publishing date, the author’s publisher Random House had this to say in a statement, courtesy ofEntertainment Weekly.

“As his publisher, we supportGeorge R.R. Martinas he works hard to finish The Winds of Winter. Any on-sale dates currently listed online for the novel are incorrect. Once we have a publication date for The Winds of Winter, the world will know.”

The author had also previously announced that he himself would announce the date forThe Winds of Winteron his own blog.George R.R. Martin’s U.K. publisher HarperCollins said nothing had been finalized about the publication of this long-awaited book quite yet. This year mark’s the 20th Anniversary of the first novel in theA Song of Fire and Icenovel series, and it has been over five years since the publication of the last novelA Dance With Dragons.

Game of ThronesSeason 6 was the first to air on HBO that goes beyond the books that have already been published. Production has already begun onGame of Thrones Season 7, which will span seven episodes and debut in the summer of 2017. The eighth and final season is expected to span six episodes, although HBO programming presidentCasey Bloyssaid last month that the final season episode count has yet to be set in stone.