As fellow worried devotees of George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series we get it. That’s why we know, any time there’s new information from him about a book release, exactly what your first question will be. So let’s just get this out of the way: no, he did not announce a release date for The Winds of Winter. In fact, what he did have to say about the overdue sixth novel isn’t exactly what we were hoping to hear. But at least he had some very good news about something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.

His frequently rumored history of House Targaryen, Fire and Blood (jokingly called the GRRMarillion as a nod to J. R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion), will finally be hitting bookshelves soon. Even better, it will be a two-parter. Hey, that’s genuinely awesome, so why don’t we focus on that announcement first?

Image: HBO

On his “Not a Blog” LiveJournal page, Martin said that sometime in late 2018/early 2019 the “largely written” first book will be released. It will cover the time starting with Aegon I’s Conquest of Westeros, up until the regency of Aegon III. That covers up until 136 AC (AC = After Aegon’s Conquest) when Aegon III, known as the Dragonbane, formally assumed the Iron Throne for himself. That’s about 160 years before the start of Game of Thrones.

That time frame also coincides with the death of the last dragons–until Daenerys–which was the major turning point for House Targaryen’s reign. (Aegon was called the Dragonbane because some believe he killed the dragons out of hatred, since he saw his mother fed to one).

Much is already known about the events that led to Aegon III being crowned, the costly Targaryen Civil War known as the Dance of the Dragons. Martin has previously released two abridged histories of that event and its major players, “The Princess and the Queen” and “The Rogue Prince.”

But in Fire and Blood Martin says we will get the “complete detailed history” of the infamous war that put the Targaryen dynasty on the road to ruin. Part 2 will then cover everything from Aegon III’s rule until Robert’s Rebellion, when the Mad King was killed by Jaime Lannister.

In The World of Ice and Fire, the compendium to A Song of Ice and Fire series that explores the history of the Seven Kingdoms in incredible detail, the section on the Targaryens is arguably the most compelling and interesting part of the book (it’s my favorite), so Fire and Blood should be a must read for fans.

Side note: If he is giving us a full, complete history of the Dance of the Dragons, where dragons literally fought one another in the skies, that might rule it out as one of the spin-off options HBO is considering. Martin has already said Robert’s Rebellion wouldn’t make for a good series, because that story won’t contain any secrets by the end of Game of Thrones. What would be left to tell about the Dance of the Dragons after Fire and Blood?

“Uh, it would have dragon fights?” you say? FAIR.

Image: NBC

But now we get to the bad part, The Winds of Winter. After complaining about reports that suggest he’s been done with it for awhile and he’s just sitting on it for “nefarious” reasons, or the opposite notion, that he hasn’t written any pages and never will, he strongly denied both accusations and gave an update on the overdue sixth book’s eventual (hopefully?) completion (brace yourself):

“I am still working on it, I am still months away (how many? good question), I still have good days and bad days, and that’s all I care to say. Whether WINDS or the first volume of FIRE AND BLOOD will be the first to hit the bookstores is hard to say at this juncture, but I do think you will have a Westeros book from me in 2018… and who knows, maybe two. A boy can dream…”

So he Fire and Blood might come out as late as early 2019, but it is possible it will beat The Winds of Winter to stores. There aren’t enough lemon cakes in the world to sugarcoat that. We’ve been burned by so many rumored release dates before we can’t even be excited for his “dream” about getting The Winds of Winter next year.

Well, if we have to keep waiting, at least we’ll have Fire and Blood to help tide us over. Although, that’s only “largely written” itself, so who knows when we’ll really get that. (Seven bloody hells we’re like abused direwolves with this stuff.)

So yeah, another good news/bad news announcement from Martin. Believe us, we get it.

What do you make of this announcement? Are you focusing on the good or the bad? Either way, we want to read what you have to write about it in our comments section below.

Game of Thrones Images: HBO