How long do you think George will take to finish his novels?

[chongjasmine]

How long do you think George will take to finish his novels? 5 years, 10 years? Do you think he will live to finish off his tales?

 

[viZion]

Is this another thinly-veiled "I hope GRRM doesn't die before he finishes the books for me!" thread? I'll pretend like it's not and answer the question honestly.

I think that if he does finish it'll take another 12 years. He simply doesn't write fast enough for it to be any sooner. I honestly don't think he'll finish the series though. To me, it seems like he's lost a bit of passion for writing the series and may have also written himself into a corner that he can't find a way out of.

I would really like to know how it ends though!

 

[Ghost of Harrenhal]

I think he will finish because he already has bits of manuscript of the next books and there are only 2 more after ADWD right? The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring? I think it MAY be true though that he has either lost passion for the novel (Gods only know why.. I LOVE IT!) or just decided to put it on the back burner for a while but I'm kind of hoping after ADWD comes out he'll take a little holiday to get over the pressure he's been under and then come back at it in full swing, finishing the last two books in 2 to 3 years each.

Fingers crossed...

 

[chongjasmine]

I hope he finishes the novels. I really love them.

 

[Ursa major]

To me, it seems like he's lost a bit of passion for writing the series and may have also written himself into a corner that he can't find a way out of.

It depends what kind of corner, though. If it's due to complexity, this may be (partially) solved in ADWD, as the threads stop multiplying and start to turn towards the eventual end. If, however, the threads are out of control, then you may be right. (Given how much of ADWD is complete and ready to roll, I'll stick my neck out and suggest that GRRM has control of the situation.)

I would really like to know how it ends though!

Really?

 

[Boaz]

I do too, s.gal83.

I think the story may have changed direction on Martin a little bit. His characters may have turned out to behave differently than he imagined fifteen years ago. I'm not sure he envisioned the Red Wedding, Tywin's death, Arianne's rebellion and the fallout from these events when he began writing this epic.

I refuse to believe that Martin did not know the ending when he started this project. He named his books years in advance. So AFFC and ADWD have taken much longer to write than he expected and he still needs to write The Winds Of Winter, but I fully believe that A Dream Of Spring (previously titled A Time For Wolves and being the conclusion) is not fully fixed in his mind, if not outlined in detail somewhere in his office. I suspect that he may labor four years on TWOW, but I expect Mr. Martin to sprint to the finish line and finish ADOS in two years or less.

I hope he takes time to be with his loved ones and to do the things that makes life fulfilling. I certainly don't want to play Weese to his Arya/Weasel.

 

[The Imp]

How long do you think George will take to finish his novels? 5 years, 10 years? Do you think he will live to finish off his tales?

I hope this answer doesn't come off as being overly grouchy, BUT, this horse has been beaten to death so many times it's tough to find a new to land a blow.

Let's see ADWD hit the stores before we do this particular dance again.

 

[Boaz]

Let's see ADWD hit the stores before we do this particular dance again.

Very droll, Imp.

 

[Werthead]

I think the story may have changed direction on Martin a little bit. His characters may have turned out to behave differently than he imagined fifteen years ago. I'm not sure he envisioned the Red Wedding, Tywin's death, Arianne's rebellion and the fallout from these events when he began writing this epic.

Actually, those three elements are things I know he did plan right from the start. AGoT was originally supposed to end with the Red Wedding and Dorne being a distant and only occasionally-mentioned force at the start and coming into focus later on was definitely in the plan. It's why the Martells have a cast list and entry in the earlier books' appendices.

What he hasn't planned for is some of the stuff in AFFC, or rather he'd planned it to happen offscreen or in flashback. Brienne's quest and its details I think are the only storyline that he really wasn't expecting to go into in so much detail, possibly some elements of Sam's journey to Oldtown and Cersei's misadventures on the Iron Throne as well. I suspect originally the plan was we'd rejoin Cersei before her arrest by the Faith and follow her story from then on.

 

[Ursa major]

AGoT was originally supposed to end with the Red Wedding....

What he hasn't planned for is some of the stuff in AFFC....

Do you mean a Game of Thrones, Wert?

I you do, there must be quite a lot of unplanned stuff in AGoT and ACoK, not to mention ASoS.

 

[Eulalia]

What I wish, is that GRRM would publish his out takes. Then we could see the evolution of the story and the ideas that didn't make it and compare to what he chose! I suppose a magician doesn't tell his secrets.

 

[Boaz]

Eulalia, that would indeed be interesting.

Wert, thanks for setting me straight... doh!

 

[Werthead]

Do you mean a Game of Thrones, Wert?

I you do, there must be quite a lot of unplanned stuff in AGoT and ACoK, not to mention ASoS.

Yup. Everything that happened in AGoT, ACoK and ASoS was supposed to happen in AGoT by itself That's how we got from three books to seven.