George R.R. Martin, writer of the international best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire, has fans on the edge of their seats waiting for the 6th book in the series. The fantasy franchise which was adapted as the television series Game of Thrones had the last novel published in 2011. The long wait however could soon be over, as director Jack Bender has probably confirmed that the next book is finally finished.
Indeed not so long ago, Jack Bender was chosen to direct the first two episodes of season 6 and was quickly stormed with questions by the fans.
Notably one enquirer asked Bender whether he had the chance to read an advance copy of the 6th book The Winds of Winter to prepare for his work on the TV show. Bender surprisingly said "yes", leading every fan to the conclusion that the next novel is finally completed and could soon be coming to stores.
Unfortunately according to several fan sites, Bender's words were actually misinterpreted, and the director was only referring to the season six outline of the Game of Thrones TV show. This would mean that there's still no information regarding the 6th book, which could come as late as 2017 taking into account the 6-year gap that existed between book 4 and 5.
Although George R.R. Martin promised to publish The Winds of Winter before the story of the TV series caught up with the Books, unfortunately season 5 of Game of Thrones has basically depleted the existing story lines and the next novel is still not in stores.
This means that the next episodes of the TV series will be entirely new for book readers and TV-only fans alike (like several parts of season 5 already were) and only the main outlines and character fates (that Martin told the producers) will be consequent with the future novels.
Season 6 will feature 10 episodes again, with 5 directors this time around, who will each be responsible for two consecutive episodes.
Bender, who has extensive experience with TV shows including Lost, The Sopranos, Alias and more recently The Last Ship will be joined by Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa, Daniel Sackheim and Miguel Sapochnik in the directors' seat.
