《凛冬的寒风》是HBO的电视剧的原著《冰与火之歌》系列的下一本书，琼恩·雪诺(基特·哈灵顿饰)是否被守夜人杀死以及丹妮莉丝·坦格利安(艾米莉亚·克拉克饰)将如何应对多斯拉克人，本书将揭开这些谜团的关键。“《凛冬的寒风》还没写完，”马丁写道。“相信我，我很不愿意写下这些话。你很失望，大家都很失望。我的编辑和出版商失望，HBO很失望，我的经纪人和外国出版商和译者们都很失望……但没有人会比我自己更失望。”
马丁说他也不确定第六本书什么时候能写完，只是说“该写完的时候就写完了”但是，很多提示表明，尽管这本书不会在第六季首映之前问世，但是这并不意味着剧中情节不会剧透书的内容。
“我想不出任何其他电影或电视节目都出来了，原著还没写完的例子。所以当你问我，‘剧中情节会剧透书的内容吗’，我只能说，“会，也不会，”然后又咕哝了两句蝴蝶效应，”马丁说。“那些漂亮的小蝴蝶已经长成了巨龙。第六季里你们觉得是剧透的内容可能根本就不是剧透……因为电视剧和原著情节走向已经分道扬镳了，并将继续如此。”
之前HBO公布《权力的游戏》的春季和冬季的开播日期时，我们预期的是《权力的游戏》的开播可能会比正常时间推迟几周，这意味着电视台会为了让马丁在电视剧开播之前提前发书而延期开播。如果马丁在2015年10月或者12月的截止日期之前写完，可能会是这种情况，但是这两个最后期限他却都错过了。
《权力的游戏》第六季将于四月开播。
George R.R. Martin dealt a heavy blow to Game of Thrones book fans when he announced via his blog on Saturday that he would not be finishing Winds of Winter before Season 6 premieres this spring.
Winds of Winter, the next book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series upon which the HBO drama is based, holds key answers like whether Jon Snow (Kit Harington) died at the hands of Night's Watch or how Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) fared with the Dothraki.
"The Winds of Winter is not finished," Martin wrote. "Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words. You're disappointed, and you're not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed...but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me."
Martin says he's not sure when the sixth book will be completed, just that "It will be done when it's done." However, the note suggests that though the book won't be out before Season 6 debuts, that doesn't mean the series will contain book spoilers one could possibly be more disappointed than me."
"I can't think of any other instance where the movie or TV show came out as the source material was still being written. So when you ask me, 'will the show spoil the books,' all I can do is say, 'yes and no,' and mumble once again about the butterfly effect," Martin says. "Those pretty little butterflies have grown into mighty dragons. Some of the 'spoilers' you may encounter in season six may not be spoilers at all... because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so."
There had been hope when HBO's spring and winter dates were announced that Game of Thrones being delayed a few weeks later than normal meant the network was stalling for Martin to have the book released ahead of the season. That could have been the case if Martin had met his October or December 2015 deadlines, but he missed both of them.p;because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so."
Game of Thrones Season 6 is set to premiere in April.
