The hype for Game of Thrones author George RR Martin's next book just got kicked up to another level.
Martin dealt crushing disappointment to many fans this week by confirming that the next proper novel in the Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, is not being released this year, in favour of something called Fire and Blood.
This news was met with a collective shrug from most fans because Fire and Blood is a reference book about "monumental history of the Targaryen kings of Westeros", rather than a novel.
Well buck up little birds because Fire and Blood might soon become essential reading after all. In his blog on Thursday (April 26), Martin cryptically hinted that one of the five Game of Thrones prequel shows currently in development at HBO could draw from Fire and Blood.
"As most of you know, HBO is presently developing a number of different prequels to Game of Thrones," he wrote. "I know I am going to be asked whether those shows are going to be based on material from Fire and Blood. It's a logical question.
"The only answer I can give is… ah, well, no-one is sure yet, and anyway, I am not allowed to say. So let's move that to the side."
In January, HBO president Casey Bloys said that the prequels wouldn't feature any current Game of Thrones characters, but did concede that they could include familiar "bloodlines" — a caveat that could easily apply to a show about the rise and fall of the Targaryen empire.
Mark your calendars now: George RR Martin's Fire and Blood will be released on November 20. Game of Thrones itself won't return for its final season until next year, with any of the prequels at least two years away.
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