Our beloved ‘Game of Thrones’ author just hit us with a big-time surprise

In less than two weeks’ time, a new season of Game of Thrones will be upon us, serving up some fierce battles, political intrigue and the looming knowledge that winter is still coming. The wait may not be long when it comes to the show, but author George R.R. Martin is well-aware that the next installment of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire (upon which the TV show is based) is in very high demand.

He’s actually announced that he won’t be penning any episodes for the series in order to hunker down and devote his time to finishing The Winds of Winter. While the show’s creators have confessed that Game of Thrones will continue to deviate in plot from the books, that hasn’t stopped fans from chomping at the bit.

Over the last several months, GRRM’s been giving hungry readers little tidbits to sustain them – and today, he’s released a brand-new excerpt from The Winds of Winter, from the POV of Sansa Stark. The last time he leaked a snippet of the new book on his website, it actually crashed his servers(!) – so we’ve included a small, non-spoilery excerpt here for you to check out.

You can also visit George R.R. Martin’s official website to read the full excerpt, but just a heads-up – mild spoilers abound, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

[Featured image via.]