'Game of Thrones' writer posts excerpt from latest novel.

• Position: News - Excerpt

Winter is coming, slowly.

The best-selling author George R. R. Martin just released an excerpt from his novel in progress, "The Winds of Winter,'' the latest book in his epic fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire.''

Martin's fans have been agitating for the next volume in the series, which was turned into the hit HBO show "Game of Thrones,'' since the fifth book came out in 2011. Some have harangued him for taking time off from the books to write episodes of the show, while others have urged him to appoint a literary successor in case he doesn't live long enough to finish the story. Martin did not write for the show's fifth season, and has said that he won't be writing episodes for season six to focus on finishing the novel.

The story takes place in a vaguely medieval fantasy world where different political factions are vying for power, with the help of dragons, black magic and armies of freed slaves.

The new excerpt, posted Thursday on Martin's website, arrived just ahead of the April 12 premiere of the...