The 'Winds of Winter' Amazon Release Date in March Is Probably Bunk

The ticking time bomb that is George R. R. Martin’s sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, Winds of Winter, finally has a publication date, according to Amazon France. And that date is probably not real. Sorry, guys.

But we’re pretty sure we know why this preliminary date, March 9, 2017, was “leaked” in the first place. Martin’s UK publisher, HarperCollins, told Radio Times:

“As yet nothing has been finalized regarding the publication or the date.”

This is nothing new, because we all know that GRRM lives to torture us. He’s also said in the past that any official publication date for the novel would be announced on his blog first.

But sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s online store tend to post placeholder publication dates to spur pre-orders. That’s it. Pre-ordering Winds of Winter — that thing we already did what seems like a million years ago — is the reason for this old wound being ripped open again with the same ruthlessness shown at The Red Wedding.

Still, GRRM can’t blame us for getting excited. We deserve a little bit of joy every once in a while.