The Winds of Winter release date news: Polish translator slip suggests late 2015/early 2016 for next George RR Martin book

The text sounds like it's being submitted for translation before the end of the year

Previous talk from A Song of Ice and Fire’s publishers and George R. R. Martin himself hinted at a 2016 or 2017 release date for The Winds of Winter, a book that’s been worked on longer than the Bible, but the latest nugget of information suggests early 2016 at the latest.

Polish website PIESN LODU I OGNIA, reports the following about a translator:

'Michał Jakuszewski confirmed that he was asked by the Zysk publishing house to save his time by the end of the year for translating the Winds of Winter, and although the translator seemed to be a bit skeptical about this news, it is undoubtedly a glimmer of hope for many of us.'

The news suggest the wheels are at least in motion on the book, with it presumably being pretty much done by now if it is to be sent to international translators before the year is through.

Publishing and launch campaign would then follow, but it puts the book on course for 2016 - possibly in time for the arrival of Game of Thrones season 6 in April, as Martin had previously hoped.

Announcement of the book's publication date will eventually come through Martin's LiveJournal site.

To say The Winds of Winter has been a long time coming is putting it lightly, the author once said he hoped to have the ASOIAF saga finished by 1998.