With news coming in that George RR Martin confirming the next instalment in the Game of Thrones / A Song of Fire & Ice series, The Winds of Winter, will not be released in 2015, it essentially confirms what we all knew.
The TV series will be finished before the books are.
HBO and showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss both acknowledged that the author's glacial pace would mean that they would eventually overtake him.
With news that The Winds of Winter won't be published in 2015, it confirms this as both Benioff and Weiss have said that their run finishes after eight seasons in 2017.
The Winds of Winter, the sixth book of a projected series of eight, follows on from 2011's A Dance With Dragons.
Martin has published excerpts from the book online, although has not confirmed the exact plot or narrative of the new book. Indeed, someone actually did the math and projected that based on the speed Martin writes at, the final book will not be finished until 2023 - by which the time, the show will be off the air by six years.
Part of HBO's deal with Martin included the author explaining the showrunners of the exact details how the epic fantasy saga will end.
This will mean that TV viewers will know how it ends before readers of the novels, something that's caused consternation amongst diehard fans.
As it stands, the upcoming season will be lifted from A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons, which both took place chronologically but followed different characters.
Martin's publisher has explained that writing the books have become increasingly difficult as the stories and characters grow ever more complex with each passing novel.
HBO simultaneously commissioned the fifth and sixth season of Game of Thrones, the first time HBO has ever done such a thing for a drama series.
> > > Watch the trailer for the fifth season of Game of Thrones
Via Guardian.co.uk
