With the premiere date for "Game of Thrones" season 6 just around the corner, give or take five months, the buzz surrounding the release date of "Winds of Winter" keeps getting louder.

Whereas before, those who read the "A Song of Fire and Ice" saga can afford to be smug about what they know ahead of "Game of Thrones," such as the Red Wedding for instance, now fans of both the novels and the TV series find themselves in the same position as the HBO show has caught up to the events in the novels.

"In terms of concrete answers, we know 'The Winds of Winter' will include point-of-view chapters from Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Arianne Martell, Tyrion Lannister, Barristan Selmy and several Greyjoys -- including Aeron, Theon and Victarion," IBTimes said.

"The Battle of Meereen and updates regarding Stannis' army at the Crofters' Village will definitely be featured in 'Winds,'" it added.

Of course, by now fans should know that the "Game of Thrones," while following the same arc in George R. R. Martin's novels, is not averse to changing major storylines for the sake of brevity and to avoid confusion.

Then there's the subject of Jon Snow, the Kit Harington character whom producers insisted died at the end of "Game of Thrones" season 5. Then George R. R. Martin seems amused by the suggestion

"When Martin was asked about Jon's death in the future A Song of Ice and Fire books back in 2011, the author responded, 'Oh, you think he's dead, do you?'" reported HuffPost.

George R. R. Martin has said that he aims to announce the "Winds of Winter" release date prior to the premiere of "Game of Thrones" season 6.

The author's own "Winds of Winter" release date timeline seems to be supported by two independent reports of the Spanish and Polish publishing houses finishing the translation by the end of this year or early next year.