ASOIAF / Game of Thrones (SPOILERS INSIDE)

[holahouze]

Originally Posted by Sirken [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

this is my big fear. book 6 will come out.. eventually. but to start another fresh 1500 page tome, i just dont know if he still has it in him. if i were him id finish book 7 and never release it

My fear, too. Actuarial tables tilting the wrong way, and he's comfortable, wealthy, and has other interests. Besides, you don't see a lot of creativity/output from artists in the 4th quarter. Bummer to think about.

[holahouze]

Originally Posted by AenorVZ [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Okay if you say so. But if Jon is the holy savior then Neds internal monologue regarding him doesn't make sense. It also makes no sense that he did so little for Jon but moved heaven and earth for Dany.

After i finished the first book, I went googling around looking for explanations for Ned's behavior (Ned's meeting with Cersei in the godswood was a turn-off for me). This is how i stumbled upon R+L=J. Gobsmacked. I then went back and read all of Ned's POVs to figure out what I'd missed. There's roughly 150 Ned POV pages, but really very little there. Just not much Jon in his internal monologue -- several thoughts that separate Jon from the kids; an opportunity or two to call Jon his son, but he doesn't. I guess we're left with Ned's honor sacrifice to protect Jon's true identity to be the ultimate sacrifice. For Dany, he was willing to sacrifice the position of Hand and Robert's friendship, but not his honor. I won't flip out if R+L=/=J, but I'm on-board with Jon being ice & fire.

[AenorVZ]

Yeah I'm not saying ambiguity = proof that Preston is right. But man, there's enough ambiguity there to drive a truck through.

[holahouze]

Originally Posted by AenorVZ [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah I'm not saying ambiguity = proof that Preston is right. But man, there's enough ambiguity there to drive a truck through.

Agreed. Although there are others, much more invested than me, that would argue PJ's timeline is all wrong. I've never been motivated to check this out, but I started trusting those arguments after sorting out Ned's motivation for keeping Jon's identify a secret.

Ned's honor code was a distraction for me on first readings. I liked the Starks, and I liked Ned's character, so his placing his honor over smart/practical thinking made me question Martin's storytelling. But, having read it over and over, it started to sink in. Sacrificing his honor to protect R+L=J makes sense. Sacrificing his honor to protect his nephew doesn't.

I hope this pays off. Because at this point, Ned's honor benefited the Targaryen and Baratheon/Lannister kids while punishing his own.

[Sirken]

Hola, he'd be protecting his nephew either way [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[holahouze]

Originally Posted by Sirken [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hola, he'd be protecting his nephew either way [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Whoops! Yeah, poor choice of words. You know what i meant though. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Sirken]

Originally Posted by holahouze [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Whoops! Yeah, poor choice of words. You know what i meant though. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

its true. but not only is the timeline a bit off, he also makes some leaps and assumptions to fill in blanks. such as how much free time Brandon has between arrival and apprehension, as well as all of Ashara's actions and locations. its one of the theories that i think hes trying to force. also, anything that he uses the house with the red door / lemon trees arguement with. as GRRM has already addressed that inconsistency.

(also, i might spam the hell out of this thread today, things are slow at work :P )

[Spyder73]

There is roughly a 0% chance that he will be able to finish this in 2 books. The way he writes and all the crap he has going on is too much. Even if he somehow focuses everything (which would be a foreign invasion from Danny), I just dont see it.

The narrative is already laid out though. Danny will unite the Dothraki Tribes, take back over her city, sail to Westeros where her brother(?)(Griff?) will have recruited Dorn already, Danny will serve justice to all, then Danny will fly her Dragons to the wall and kill all the White Walkers and rule the Seven Kingdoms.

I am curious what role Bran will play in the next book since I feel it will heavily rely on him. IF Jon Snow is actually dead, we will need a new character to follow around on the wall and in the North, but that could easily be Bran

[Sirken]

Jon isn't dead. hes literally the only character with plot armor in the whole story.

while i dont disagree with you that it cant be finished correctly in 2 books, thats not what i'm trying to say. what im saying is that i dont think he'll every write/finish book 7. i think the only reason we'll get book 6 is because so much is already done. but i dont expect book 6 to be of the same quality.

[Spyder73]

The last book was one of my favorites of the entire series, so I don't think the quality will necessarily dip as much as people's expectations will be unrealistic. Everyone is going to be looking for notable deaths in every chapter and thats just not the way these things work. The closing sequence of book 5 was just amazing. Dannys city is going to complete sh!t, she is being ousted as ruler, the locals are taking over, her Dragons are becoming a liability.....and then she rides one off into the middle of the largest Dorthraki horde on the planet and they all kneel and start chanting Khalisee or whatever.

Going to be very disappointed if Jon is not dead. If somehow Bran is the one who gives him life back then I would be OK with it. But as much as GRRM will take things to the mystical realm (especially in the North), the book pretty clearly paints a picture of Snow getting Caser'd to death by an entire group of people, all with daggers. Then again Jon Snow seems to be his favorite character and he has relied HEAVILY on him. Maybe that makes it all the more jarring though. Keeping Jon alive just opens up more story lines to close, so from a completion angle - killing him off makes the most sense, you don't have to answer any questions surrounding him, Ned, Ned's sister, and Rhaegar.


Side note - have you read any of the new Brandon Sanderson books? I think the series is called The Storm Light Archive. I read the first 2 and its as good if not better than GoT.

I didnt start reading until a few years ago, but I have been plowing through books (I read at work and before bed everyday now).

I have completed
Storm Light Archives - 2 books
King Killer Chronicles - 2 books
Game of Thrones - 5 books
Wheel of Time series - 13 books
Malazan Book of the Fallen - on book 9 of 10

EDIT: He will absolutely finish the series - he may wait for HBO to write it for him and then just copy it, but it will definitely get done