George R.R. Martin's 'Winds of Winter' to release soon? Website drops huge hint

There has been a lot of speculation over when George R.R. Martin's "The Winds of Winter" will release. Fans who are eagerly waiting for the writer's sixth book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series can now be rest assured.

It has been seven months since the grand finale of "Game of Thrones," the HBO hit series. It was based on George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. The show ended with several fan-favourites meeting their fate, which left fans devastated.

Since it has been sometime since the show ended, Martin may have finally finished writing "The Winds of Winter." Fans of the GOT creator strongly believe that release date announcement of the book could be imminent following a subtle marketing move. They have been waiting for the book eight years now. The writer has still one more book to go before the story concludes.

"A Song of Ice and Fire" fans have noticed what could be a subtle marketing move, getting ready for a big announcement – perhaps even before Christmas, Express UK reports.

"TheWindsofWinter.com is no longer being squatted. The DNS records were updated as recently as this morning," Ser Dunk the Lunk posted on ASOIAF Reddit.

"After many years of apparently being squatted, http://thewindsofwinter.com changed ownership on 11/24. The IP address now points to a small hosting company outside Vancouver," the fan tweeted. The user wrote that the DNS record was updated and "Somebody is getting ready to do something with this."

Fans immediately commented with their excitement and hope that a "Winds of Winter" release date announcement could well be imminent.

However, there were mixed reactions to the tweet. "The ridiculous nature of something like this being discovered so quickly. This sub is going into full-on meltdown when an official announcement is made (if ever)," commented one user.

While others tweeted saying not to "give hope" that the book was coming, while some weren't "optimistic" and felt it to be a money making gimmick.

Fans are also excited about a new change on George RR Martin's official website earlier this week. A fan spotted that it had been updated with an intriguing new section.

Reddit user jsnow5627 wrote: "If you visit George's website today you'll see in the Next Publication section there is a new message 'Check back soon for information on future releases. This was not there a few days ago. In fact, if you use the internet archive you'll see no message. Is WINDS coming?"

Meanwhile, Martin himself has set a deadline for the book. He had written in his blog post earlier this year that he will be attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Wellington, New Zealand in July 2020.

"I tell you this — if I don't have THE WINDS OF WINTER in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for Worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I'm done. Just so long as the acrid fumes do not screw up my old DOS word processor, I'll be fine," he had written.

Fans however, are expected to take this information with a pinch of salt.