[Slum]

^^^^I think that the above spoiler info is actually good news...some continuity won't hurt.

Spoiler

I hope it's Arya that's returning, 'cause I really don't want to wait another 3-5 years after ADWD to see how that cliffhanger turns out.... I don't care so much about the Cersei POV. Would be nice to see what became of Brienne's last encounter...

[Optimus Prime]

At this point, all we can hope for is a quality book. As angry as the waiting has made some.....if the book comes out and is fucking awesome, let's be honest...all will be forgiven and forgotten.

So is he still set on having it done in 7 books?

[Kulp Diet]

Slumgullion,

I think I read on the ASOIAF forums that the character you mention indeed will be included, which came from GRRM himself at a con I believe. but don't quote me.

[Slum]

Thanks for letting me know, Kulp.

@Xander - Well, from the 4-5 sample chapters I've read it looks like it's going to be a fine effort, and GRRM's never been short of surprises...

Honestly, the man just annoys me a little at this point. Excellent writer though...no doubt.

[paladin]

Werthead;317923 said:

As others have said, part of the problem is that GRRM hasn't communicated clearly on occasion and has inclined to optimism the rest of the time. If he'd simply said that he was splitting the book and he had no idea when ADWD was coming out, he wouldn't have had half the criticism he has had.

it would be better if he just shut up and wrote the damn book instead of giving us tidbits all the time that always need to have an * next to them because they are subject to change. glen cook has a lower profile, but you cant find jack about what hes doing right now or when his next book is due out, and honestly im happy with that over all the drama grrm gives his fans

[Slum]

GRRM's kinda screwed himself in that respect, Paladin. He's established a rapport with his fanbase, and to go silent now would run the risk of pissing-off some e-friends.

I wonder how we'd react if SE was giving us regular updates on his life and writing progress...and then took 5 years to release the book. Scary mob indeed...

[caladanbrood]

Werthead;317710 said:

So what would people prefer: a book that came out a year ago and was similarly flawed, or one that comes out within 6-8 months of now and is actually decent?

I think the main problem people have is that they fear that they'll have the long wait and the book will be of the standard of aFfC. And if Martin goes 8 or 9 or 10 years (5 for aFfC, 3 for aDwD and charitably 2 until the next one) without releasing an impressive volume of aSoIaF, he's gonna lose fans fast, I think.

Of course, the other problem is that he probably knows this, so he puts himself under a lot more pressure than would otherwise be on his writing, and it's just a vicious circle.

[Optimus Prime]

Slumgullion Spitteler;317937 said:

Thanks for letting me know, Kulp.

@Xander - Well, from the 4-5 sample chapters I've read it looks like it's going to be a fine effort, and GRRM's never been short of surprises...

Honestly, the man just annoys me a little at this point. Excellent writer though...no doubt.

Agreed. Martin can be a little pompous at times, and that is what irks me. Dude, without the people who read your books...you'd be a regular smuck like the rest of us.

I don't even look at his site anymore, the pointless updates almost threw me into a titanic rage.

[Kulp Diet]

Slumgullion Spitteler;317953 said:

GRRM's kinda screwed himself in that respect, Paladin. He's established a rapport with his fanbase, and to go silent now would run the risk of pissing-off some e-friends.

Yeah. There are a lot of groupies who love to read his blog and see pictures of his overweight cat. It seems to tide them over. I've never been like that. In fact, the more I learn about GRRM as a person, the more I have to tell myself, "Yeah, but he writes kickass books." The longer he takes to accomplish said writing though, the more he becomes like the aging rock star who hasn't had a new song in decades, but still acts like a douche for the camera whenever he can. That's the image in my mind, at least.

One misconception is the frequency of the tidbits. True, he released a ton of sample chapters, most of which are read at cons. But he is pretty quiet with updates. He puts a ASOIAF progress updates up on his site at least 6 months apart. The one before the most recent ended with, "The next time I update this page, Dance will be finished." That was 2 years ago, I believe.

[Werthead]

Quote

it would be better if he just shut up and wrote the damn book instead of giving us tidbits all the time that always need to have an * next to them because they are subject to change. glen cook has a lower profile, but you cant find jack about what hes doing right now or when his next book is due out, and honestly im happy with that over all the drama grrm gives his fans

I wouldn't quite put it that way, but yeah, I think total radio silence maybe the way forward during the writing of Book 6.

For those interested, the total, confirmed number of POVs for ADWD is as follows:

Spoiler

Varamy Sixskins (prologue-only POV)
Daenerys Targaryen
Tyrion Lannister
Jon Snow
Bran Stark
Arya Stark (as Cat of the Canals)
Sansa Stark (it's unknown if she's still known as Alayne)
Davos Seaworth
Quentyn Martell
Theon Greyjoy (now known as Reek)
Asha Greyjoy

There will also be another POV character whom most have suggested is Melisandre of Asshai, but there are hints it may be Ser Loras Tyrell. However, because of the geographic confines of ADWD, it almost certainly Melisandre. There may also be an epilogue-only POV, and GRRM has hinted that we may discover what happened to some of the other AFFC POVs after their cliffhanger endings. This may be more likely now due to Sansa's presence in the book, which was confirmed only last week.

For those wondering what chapters have been released so far:

Spoiler

Tyrion, Jon and Daenerys' first chapters are circulating on GRRM's website. Daenerys' first chapter is the same as that which can be found in some editions of AFFC. Theon's first chapter has been released as part of Bantam Spectra's first 'Pulse' magazine.

The first few paragraphs of Davos' first chapter were read out by GRRM in his appearance on Second Life a few months ago. You can probably track it down on the Interweb somewhere.

These 4-and-a-bit are the only 'official' releases from the book.

Unofficially, GRRM has also read out the prologue, Tyrion's second chapter, Jon's second chapter and Asha's first chapter at cons, but these are subject to changes since he read them.

Dany's second and third chapters were also released as part of a preview booklet for Comicon 2004, but they've been changed since then.

For what it's worth, ADWD will likely be between 50 and 70 chapters in length, based on the previous books in the series.

[Slum]

Well, that's certainly some good info, Wert.

I'd rep you if you weren't so much of a GRRM apologist

[Kulp Diet]

Xander;317961 said:

Agreed. Martin can be a little pompous at times, and that is what irks me. Dude, without the people who read your books...you'd be a regular smuck like the rest of us.

I don't even look at his site anymore, the pointless updates almost threw me into a titanic rage.

Ditto.

His freaking "appearances" list reads like the departing flights board at a major international airport. I wish at one, just one, instead of being met by drooling lines of starstruck tools, he just got dissed by frustrated ex-fans. But he's still years away from that particular breaking point, I'm sure. As long as the fans feed his ego, there is no motivation to adjust priorities. People need to vote with their feet, and hell, I'm still planning on pre-ordering ADWD.

[QuickTidal]

Werthead;317923 said:

That is correct. He had part of ADWD complete when he finished AFFC. He then chose to rework that finished material, so the value of having it in hand diminished. The problem is that people seem to think he had half the book completely, 100% finished the second he finished AFFC and he never needed to touch that material again, which is very much not the case. A lot of confusion was also caused by him repeatedly saying he had 'half' the book finished when he was rather generously rounding up. It was more like a third, at best.

Dunno Wert, I think you may be reaching for explanations there. even if he had only 50% of ADWD POV's completed...he ought to still have it closer to a solid completion date 3 years later methinks. .

[QuickTidal]

Kulp Diet;317980 said:

Ditto.

His freaking "appearances" list reads like the departing flights board at a major international airport. I wish at one, just one, instead of being met by drooling lines of starstruck tools, he just got dissed by frustrated ex-fans. But he's still years away from that particular breaking point, I'm sure. As long as the fans feed his ego, there is no motivation to adjust priorities. People need to vote with their feet, and hell, I'm still planning on pre-ordering ADWD.

Awesome statement. I wonder actually how often people who go to his events contemplate calling him out on his shit and dropping him down a few pegs, cause frankly, I think his bearded ass needs it.

..and yeah I am likely to pre-order ADWD as well....sigh.

[Mentalist]

Thanks, Wert, but not reading any of those big spoiler boxes

while I like ASOIAF, it's not my favourite series--there's lots of other good stuff out there for me to obcessing over ADWD.
Like most here, I'll reserve my judgement for when the book comes out. If GRRM can pull off a spectacular ADWD, none of us will really complain anymore.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I was just looking at the pictures of GRRM on his website. I don't have a lot of faith her'll finish before he dies. He doesn't look healthy.

[paladin]

he looks like the gortons fisherman mixed with peter jackson

[Optimus Prime]

How old is he? In his 60's? Hopefully he'll only need about 5 more years to finish...though I'll not make light of him possibly dying because people used to say that about RJ and then look what happened

I want the new book, but it had better be worth the wait.

[QuickTidal]

paladin;318013 said:

he looks like the gortons fisherman mixed with peter jackson

Except Peter Jackson is skinny now....

[paladin]

now, yes, but most people remember fat round hobbit peter jackson wearing no shoes to the oscars