Rumor: George R.R. Martin’s The Winds of Winter Releasing in 2020

John F. Trent |

May 20, 2019

A new rumor suggests George R.R. Martin’s sixth book, The Winds of Winter, in his [easyazon_link identifier=”0345535529″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]A Saga of Ice and Fire[/easyazon_link] book series that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones will be released in 2020.

The rumor comes from Gary Buechler aka YouTuber Nerdrotic.

In his Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 6 Review, Gary discusses the rumor around the 1:34:00 mark.

He specifically states his source told him that Winds of Winter “is done.” He adds, “It’s done. And it will come out in December 2020.”

Buechler then indicates he has some scoop that reveals just why Game of Thrones Season 8 has been so bad.

“The scuttlebutt behind the series, why it got rushed, there is a definite reason for that…It’s not just creative. Yes, the biggest guilty party, the biggest villain is bad writing. Period. There is also egos. There is agreements with how many seasons.”

Buechler continues, “This is the thing I’m going to hint to because I don’t know for sure. Again, file it under rumor…Doomcock and I and Midnight’s Edge have reported a lot on a character contract that Star Trek has where character’s can’t be the same. There is a 25% difference in the J.J. Abrams universe.”

He adds that an email from his source indicates there is a similar contract with Game of Thrones, “What I was getting out of the email, there is something similar with Game of Thrones and that’s what caused the change.” Buechler and his guest Doomcock note that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. He also adds that this contract might actually pertain to the upcoming prequel shows that are in development at HBO.

“It could make sense for differences of books or maybe it’s applicable to the prequels and not to Game of Thrones. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Buechler then notes that there might have been some drama between Martin and the Game of Thrones writers and producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Buechler says, “This kind of stuff happens all the time. It’s kind of a miracle we get anything good. Especially when stuff starts rolling, egos gets bigger. And the Egos are bigger anyway down there. When we do get something like the MCU or something like that, it’s pretty special. It is. With Game of Thrones, I want to run with one story and then I get an email that contradicts it, but definitely something happened between George, and Dan and Dave. And either Dan and Dave got mad that he didn’t finish Winds of Winter or whatever.”

Martin previously addressed a rumor that he had finished The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring years ago. On his blog, Martin stated, “I will, however, say for the record — no, THE WINDS OF WINTER and A DREAM OF SPRING are not finished. DREAM is not even begun; I am not going to start writing volume seven until I finish volume six.”

Martin also added, “No, the books are not done. HBO did not ask me to delay them. Nor did David & Dan. There is no “deal” to hold back on the books. I assure you, HBO and David & Dan would both have been thrilled and delighted if THE WINDS OF WINTER had been delivered and published four or five years ago… and NO ONE would have been more delighted than me.”

What do you make about this new rumor that The Winds of Winter could be released in 2020? What about the idea that there is some kind of character contract preventing the characters from the books being too similar to the characters on the television show?