Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin publishes new chapter of sixth book

George R.R. Martin recently apologized to fans for not being able to finish the sixth book in the Song of Fire and Ice series, The Winds of Winter, before the new season of Game of Thrones started up. Now, as a token of appreciation for his readers, Martin has released a new chapter from the book, which you can read here.

The new chapter follows Arianne Martell and her relationship with the Sand Snakes — the group of questionable warriors that are running rampant through Dorne in the series right now. The new chapter about Arianne replaced the chapter from The Winds of Winter that was sitting on the author's website, which followed Alayne.

While the new chapter may look promising for anxious readers who want to get their hands on the next installment in the series, Martin said that he's no closer to finishing the book than he was before. On his LiveJournal page, Martin explicitly said that just because he changed the sample chapter on the website did not mean he was finished with the book.

"And no, just to spike any bullshit rumors, changing the sample chapter does not mean I am done," he wrote. "See the icon up above? Monkey is still on my back... but he's growing, he is, and one day..."

The last book Martin released in the series was A Dance with Dragons back in July of 2011. While fans were previously okay with Martin's slow writing pace, concerns have arisen now that the HBO series has caught up and surpassed the stories that have been published. Martin apologized for this and said that despite the efforts of himself and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the sixth season of the series would contain some spoilers for readers.

Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.