I too am pretty hopeful that this is the real thing, seeing as it is the first time a release date has been given. I certainly bloody hope so, as I'm one of the unfortunates who started the series right when it first appeared.
Of course there's still another two books to come. I can see myself reading the last book in my comfy chair in the nursing home, wiping drool off my chin as I curse the lacking talents of the phantom writer chosen to complete the series, since Martin himself kicked the bucket two decades earlier.
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