Fans of fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire (the basis of the HBO series Game of Thrones) have had a long wait between instalments of the series.

There was a six-year gap between the fourth volume, A Feast for Crows (2005), and the fifth volume, A Dance with Dragons (2011), and the fifth volume The Winds of Winter has moved slowly since.

In April 2018, Martin claimed that the book would not be published in 2018.

However, to the surprise of fans, G.R.R.M’s publisher Bantam Spectra today announced that he will release not one, but two new books tomorrow.

The first is the long awaited The Winds of Winter, which will be accompanied by a short prologue book set before the first novel: A Glimpse of Spring.

Martin claimed he purposefully lowered expectations for the book’s release in order to take pressure off the writing process and give fans a surprise for its eventual launch.

The books will be on sale online from tomorrow in the UK and US, with other translations to arrive in the following month.

— NFN's Oliver Frost contributed to this report.