New GRRM Update on ADWD

Has there been any update from George recently? I've just had a look on his "notablog" and the last serious mention of it seems to be in August? Does anyone know if he's actually working on it at all or not?
 
Crooksy:

Rest assured he is working on it.

Post #571 by Wert above has the latest news, which is copy here:

At the Belfast moot, GRRM confirmed he 'currently' has five chapters to finish off. However, he apparently told Bantam in confidence, not expecting them to tell everyone. The reason he hadn't announced this himself is that he was wary after one chapter early this year became two in rewrites and three in final revisions, and it's possible some of these five chapters might be broken up further. He was adamantly against putting any kind of timescale on how long it will take to finish off these chapters.

So yeah, encouraging but still not news to get hugely excited by.
 
Ursa major said:
I can't say that I agree with your friend, Clansman.

I do understand that the Red Wedding is an unwelcome shock to many, but how did GRRM miss an opportunity? Are there so few books where the good guys win? Would ASoIaF without the Red Wedding have stood as a beacon for those authors who would rather their heroes didn't die, their quests unfulfilled (as they always seem to do)? Are we still weeping over Sauron's success, and Frodo's failure, in LOTR? Or the Wicked Witch of the West's triumph over Dorothy? Or any of a vast number of similar tales?

And if we don't have the depair, how do we create the overwhelming feeling of elation when things do turn out right? Where's the contrast?
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Couldn't agree more. It's standard practise for heroes to win the day and the villains to get their just deserts, but it's clear (maybe from the moment that Lady is killed) that GRRM is not telling that sort of story.

I do see where Clansman's friend could maintain that she reads for uplifting entertainment, and that anyone could "bottom out" at the Red Wedding and give up, but surely that's the WORST point to quit reading if someone was so inclined. Personally, I needed to press on in hope of finding some kind of redemption and justice (besides the fact that I would never quit on such a well-constructed story or the other characters).

Putting that aside, the Red Wedding is simply one of the greatest scenes I've ever read (taken into account from the moment Rob says "We're going home" to Arya's heartbreaking addendum to the wedding).

Erm - apologies for the off-thread discussion (I seem to be doing that a lot lately).
 
The Imp said:
Here's something terrible to c ontemplate. An online friend whom I had told about the series bought all 4 books at the same time. He made the mistake of reading the dust jackets , and was told, right there on the back of the book, that Edard and Robb both died. He is halfway through AGOT right now, and he can't be sure of when the deaths will occur, but he'll be on the lookout.

SOmeone at the publishing company should be fired
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i read spoilers online, and while the event wasn't a surprise, it was still shocking to read.
 
Culhwch said:
I'd suggest from Bran's 'flight'. But I do agree with everything else you say.
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Yeah, as soon as I posted I thought of Bran.

Then again, with regard to Bran's "accident", at least he got to walk away from it...
 
No One said:
Couldn't agree more. It's standard practise for heroes to win the day and the villains to get their just deserts, but it's clear (maybe from the moment that Lady is killed) that GRRM is not telling that sort of story.

I do see where Clansman's friend could maintain that she reads for uplifting entertainment, and that anyone could "bottom out" at the Red Wedding and give up, but surely that's the WORST point to quit reading if someone was so inclined. Personally, I needed to press on in hope of finding some kind of redemption and justice (besides the fact that I would never quit on such a well-constructed story or the other characters).

Putting that aside, the Red Wedding is simply one of the greatest scenes I've ever read (taken into account from the moment Rob says "We're going home" to Arya's heartbreaking addendum to the wedding).

Erm - apologies for the off-thread discussion (I seem to be doing that a lot lately).
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My friend never thought that heroes should win the day, or that the villains get poetic justice (in fact, just who the hell are the villains in this story???), or that A Song of Ice and Fire should have a Hollywood ending with everything turning out perfectly for Gary Stu, Mary Jane and their two kids. She thought that with the great beginning to ASoIaF, and with a good deal of grit and horror already displayed (with the "Let's see the little boy fly" and "Ned's dead, baby" chapters, amongst other things), that the Red Wedding seemed to cement the idea that GRRM was exploring only the darkest side of humanity, instead of balancing the story of the human existence. Truthfully, through four volumes, there has not been much to see of the beauty and valour of humanity (the new High Septon is an exception), only the greed, madness, and brutality thereof.

My friend saw no balance, and as I said above, I am inclined at times to agree, but the last three volumes will tell that tale for sure. I love this series, and have read it since it was first released. My friend was simply pointing out that the better side of humanity has not been displayed at all, kind of like on the news (all headline news is bad, and rarely are the good news stories told (e.g. we never hear about the honest politicians or the problems that have been solved by the efforts of people working together, only about the crooked politicians and how many serious problems the country has)). That was my only point.

I would hate to see ASoIaF hollywood-ized. There are enough Gary Stus in fantasy already.
 
Fair enough, Clansman. I won't dispute for a second that the series has, thus far, been predominantly bleak and harrowing (which is why I love it :)).

That said, for a series of seven books, I don't think it would've been enough for GRRM to simply get the more horrific surprises out of the way in the first or second book before turning things around. That'd be pretty predictable I'm sure you'll agree. No doubt there'll be more to cheer about in the coming books (as well as a few to grieve about), which would pretty much bring things in line with GRRM's summation of a "bittersweet" resolution.

Also, I'd point to the likes of Jon, Tyrion, Dany, Brienne, Arya and quite a few others, who have shown a great deal of valour and resilience during a period that, for Westeros, would undoubtedly spread a disproportionate amount of grief among the population.

Anyhoo - I'll stop posting off-thread now.
 
No One said:
Yeah, as soon as I posted I thought of Bran.

Then again, with regard to Bran's "accident", at least he got to walk away from it...
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*ba-dum ching* Well done, sir.

Re: clansman's friend - Per No One, there is positive stuff going on in other character threads. Sam, Jon and Dany in particular come to mind.
 
New update on GRRM's blog today. Another chapter down. Assuming he hasn't added any more or broken other chapters up in editing, that means four chapters to go.
 
Got to love the "The days go too fast, the work too slowly. But onward." part
 
Check out his latest "not a blog"
So much for progress.

I especially love how he is too sick to post on the blog and do much work on his projects but he will be well enough to attend two conventions later in the month. Oh, please don't bring too much for him to sign. It's too much effort for him. Like writing his book is.
 
wolfpost said:
Check out his latest "not a blog"
So much for progress.

I especially love how he is too sick to post on the blog and do much work on his projects but he will be well enough to attend two conventions later in the month. Oh, please don't bring too much for him to sign. It's too much effort for him. Like writing his book is.
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You've stumbled into the wrong forum. There are places on the net where people will eat this kind of stuff up, but this isn't one of them.
 
I think we've all been through times when things may not have been going as well as they could. During times like those, I know I take care of essential obligations, and put off extra stuff for when I can get to it.

Get well, George!!!
 
At the signing on Sunday, GRRM confirmed that his plan had been to 'make an announcement' on ADWD then. His illness has delayed those plans, and that announcement should follow instead 'soon'. I would guess a few weeks to a month. This is the completion announcement, as during an interview the day before he said ADWD was just about ready to be delivered.

I'm also hearing that both American and British publishers are now pencilling in dates for the book to come out and will confirm once the manuscript is delivered.
 
Woohoo! I had hoped the announcement would be that ADWD was finished, but didn't want to get my hopes too high. Guess I still don't. :eek:

We'll be after you with pitchforks Werthead if this announcement is anything else! :D
 
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