George R.R. Martin releases excerpt from The Winds of Winter, next installment of A Song of Ice and Fire

Fans eagerly awaiting the next installment in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, "A Song of Ice and Fire," got a taste of it today as the author released today a fairly lengthy except from the forthcoming book "The Winds of Winter."

The except focuses on Sansa Stark who currently posing as Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish’s bastard niece Alayne Stone. It also features the young lord Robert Arryn. Here's a brief clip of it; the full excerpt can be found on Martin's website.

   She was reading her little lord a tale of the Winged Knight when Mya Stone came knocking on the door of his bedchamber, clad in boots and riding leathers and smelling strongly of the stable. Mya had straw in her hair and a scowl on her face. That scowl comes of having Mychel Redfort near, Alayne knew.

    “Your lordship,” Mya informed Lord Robert, “Lady Waynwood’s banners have been seen an hour down the road. She will be here soon, with your cousin Harry. Will you want to greet them?”

Why did she have to mention Harry? Alayne thought. We will never get Sweetrobin out of bed now. The boy slapped a pillow. “Send them away. I never asked them here.”

Season 4 of Game of Thrones, the hit HBO television series based on Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, ended in the same place that we saw Sansa last in the previous book, A Dance with Dragons, so there's a chance there could be some clues about her storyline for the show's upcoming season. On the flip side, Game of Thrones screenwriter and executive prdoucer David Benioff has also said that the upcoming season for Game of Thrones will spoil the books, so I guess it will go both ways. Of course, we've also heard that the show will deviate from the already established books, so who really knows what to believe at this point? I say just watch the shows, read the books, and enjoy them.

Season 5 of Game of Thrones is set to premiere on April 12. As for the book, "The Winds of Winter" currently has no release date, and isn't expected to be released until 2016.