George R.R. Martin posts proof he’s written part of a new Game Of Thrones book, at least

After weeks of suggesting strategies by which he might avoid having his next novel lapped by the TV show, Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin seems to have adopted the most commonly suggested alternate strategy and just written it already. Or, at least, part of it: Martin has posted an excerpt from The Winds Of Winter on the blog he normally uses for stalling on The Winds Of Winter, offering readers a tantalizing glimpse/sop so they shut up about seeing the sixth novel in his Song Of Fire And Ice series already. Obviously this is a big ol’ spoiler for everyone—for readers who’d rather continue waiting for the proper context, for TV viewers who’ve never seen the books, and even for Peter Dinklage, who admitted to David Letterman last night he’d also never touched them. In fact, even I didn’t read it, so I won’t say anything, besides the fact the excerpt is titled “Mercy,” and, knowing Martin, it’s probably shown to no one.

Also, as you might imagine, the demand is causing Martin’s website to crash intermittently—meaning when I first clicked the link to “read an excerpt from George R.R. Martin’s new novel,” I got the below, which I thought was an excellently meta joke.