Word came yesterday that HBO had set mid-February premiere dates for the likes of its new show “Vinyl” and returnees “Girls” and “Togetherness”.

Those dates were a bit later than expected and have led to concern that it will push back the premiere of the sixth season of “Game of Thrones” from its usual end of March/early April bow to one sometime in late April/May.

Today, Vanity Fair reports that one reason for this may be a fairly logical one – the books. The magazine indicates the move will give Penguin Random House and George R.R. Martin just a little more time to release the sixth book in the novel series “The Winds of Winter” – potentially before the sixth season of ‘Thrones’ kicks off.

This wouldn’t be that surprising as there’s been a lot of clues indicating that the book could be dropping early next year. It would also allow for HBO to do a seamless transition in terms of scheduling – filling the often dead quiet month of September and offering the new ‘Thrones’ season, followed by the debut of “Westworld,” then a possible third season of “The Leftovers”.