It’s been 14 years since George RR Martin last published a novel in his A Song of Ice and Fire TV series.

Since then, the Game of Thrones TV series has come and gone, with showrunners having to rely on the author’s layout for the final yet-to-be-published two novels.

Six years on from the show’s conclusion and the 76-year-old is still writing penultimate book The Winds of Winter, which he says will be a particularly big one.

In the meantime, fans eagerly await each new blog post by the author, the latest of which charts a trip to the UK last summer.

Amid the lengthy read, there was a line that caught everyone’s attention and caused despair over The Winds of Winter’s release date.

Martin mentioned: “Very nice review from the website WINTER IF COMING.”

The author was referring to the Game of Thrones fan website Winter Is Coming, which he appears to have changed to “if” in self-deprecation (or even doubt) that The Winds of Winter will ever be published. On the ASOIAF Reddit, fans shared their dismay: “I haven't slept in 20 hours, and when my eyes saw the bolded WINTER IS COMING, I had hope for a second.”

Another wrote: “Lol he’s sarcastic, he literally wrote ‘Winter IF Coming’.” One commented: “So bleak that it took him till April to write a blog post on a trip he took 8 months ago.” And one lamented: “WINTER IF COMING, now the man is doubting himself.”