"Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin admitted earlier this week he missed the deadline for the sixth installment in the series — "The Winds of Winter."
Avid fans of his written series had cause for disappointment, because this meant some major plot points are going to be revealed onscreen via the HBO series instead of through the author's written words.
Martin's followers were extremely supportive of his efforts to communicate with the fandom, but that doesn't mean burning questions disappeared.
One fan asked, in the comment section of Martin's blog on LiveJournal, whether or not book readers could hold out hope for word on the characters from the author himself.
"Are you considering releasing any more chapters from ['The Winds of Winter] ahead of the book release? Perhaps something that would inform book readers of spoiler-y topics that may be reached in the show?"
"Possibly... but please, this is off topic," Martin replied. "We're talking audiobooks here."
Martin frequently asks his fans to keep discussions on his blog posts on topic, but rarely is the request honored. In this case, the delinquent commentor was rewarded with a response, albeit a vague one.
The author did not eliminate the possibility of another early chapter release, which is great news for the fandom to latch onto. Martin has already made six chapters of "The Winds of Winter" public, but none revealed major plots or character arcs.
It seems as though he may be more open to providing spoilers, given the guarantee that HBO's season 6 will reveal them this year anyways.
It's worth noting the lack of certainty in this response. "Possibly" is about as vague as you can get, especially with no further elaboration. But the Reddit community over at /r/asoiaf was quick to get hyped, with one person titling the link "[George R.R. Martin] considering releasing another TWOW chapter, beating the show to a plot point that will happen in [Season 6]."
Some commentors hedged the excitement, calling the title "a little sensationalist." But the fact Martin replied positively at all, when he receives a bevy of LiveJournal comments everyday, warrants at least a little bit of excitement.
There are plenty of open-ended storylines from the fifth book Martin could choose to address with a sample chapter. Most notable is the fate of Jon Snow, whose last chapter faded out with him losing consciousness after being stabbed. Or perhaps fans could learn what happens between Daenerys Targaryen and the Dothraki horselords she encountered in her last chapter.
Either way, the show's version of these events will transpire onscreen starting in April this year. Book readers will have to keep their fingers and toes crossed for hopes of more material from Martin. Keep typing, George!
