The winter winds are blowing chilling through the hearts and empty hands of Game of Thrones fans. But there are major hopes that come the Spring there will be exciting news and by the Summer there will be plenty to celebrate. The normally enthusiastic blogging author has gone very quiet over the last month which many are taking as a sign he is focussed on the finishing touches to Winds of Winter. But much more encouraging are the comments he made pointing directly to this summer 2020 as the time when all fans will finally get their hands on the long-awaited (nine years and counting) sequel to A Dance With Dragons.

There has been a wave of frustrated posts from fans across the New Year with one pointing out the just realised an entire decade has ended with no Book 6 in sight.

There are also the ongoing fears that maybe the author will never finish the saga.

Martin has angrily hit back at such comments in the past but has also confirmed he hasn't even started work on Book 7 yet and also has commitments to write Book 2 of Fire and Blood, more Dunk and Egg stories plus his new involvement with another HBO spin-off show.

There a chilly fears fans may have another decade to wait, even after the expected exciting news this summer.

READ MORE: Game of Thrones books: Jon Snow was NEVER heir to the Iron Throne