George R.R. Martin attended the Guadalajara International Book Fair and discussed his progress on The Winds of Winter, and Uproxx shared some highlights! Be warned: things are only getting bleaker. He also made an important choice, ranking the three fighters he would choose if he ever needed to engage in trial by combat.
Just in case you thought ASOIAF was already pretty dark, Martin is here to remind you that things can always get worse:
But there are a lot of dark chapters right now in the book that I’m writing. It is called The Winds of Winter, and I’ve been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fills the world, so this is not gonna be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places…In any story, the classic structure is, ‘Things get worse before they get better,’ so things are getting worse for a lot of people.
Martin went on to reject the idea of a conventional “happy ending,” saying, “We very seldom see that in real life or in history, and I don’t find it as emotionally satisfying myself as what I like to call the bittersweet ending.” He also made it clear that while he hopes to write a satisfying ending to ASOIAF’s final installment, A Dream of Spring, he’s not planning to tie all the loose ends up in a bow. “For me, that’s part of the fun of reading and writing is having stories that maybe have a little ambiguity to them, a little subtlety to them, and everything is not crystal clear and laid out.”
But enough of this serious writing talk, let’s get onto the important point! Who would Martin choose to represent him in combat? He chose Ser Arthur Dayne, then Jaime Lannister, and finally Brienne of Tarth, which makes for a solid bench of fighters.
Hungry for more news on The Winds of Winter? You can take a look at our roundup of every piece of the book that Martin has released so far. Plus, here’s footage of the entire interview from the Guadalajara International Book Fair:
I cant wait for this book to come out so my grandchildren can read it to their grandchildren.
As far as I’m concerned, ol’ George can take as long as he needs. I’ve already resigned myself to possibly never seeing the series completed. So I just hope what he can get out is as good as he can make it.
Had to laugh at “this is not gonna be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for.” Uh… was anyone actually hoping for a happy feel-good from this? Seems like a stretch to me.
I surely expected The Winds of Winter to be filled with rainbows, unicorns and sunshine. You mean some characters may die? Who would have thought!
To paraphrase something from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, I am not looking for the ending but an ending to ASOIAF.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewHB
@3 – I had the exact same thought, lol.
Also this post gave me a heart attack at first because I read the title as ‘George R. R. Martin Gives Up On Winds of Winter’.
Hmm really those three?
Some non westerosi options:
Strong Belwas
The Viper
Areo Hotah
Master Silvio
Tormund Giantsbane
Johnny Wireless @@@@@ 7 – I would agree with most of your list, but the Viper lets his emotions get in the way a bit too much. I’d like someone whose focus is actually *winning* the TbC.
Lisamarie @6 – I want a “Like” or “Upvote” button in the worst way!! :D That comment cracked me up.
I’ve noticed that GRRM always uses language like “I just have to finish the damn thing,” when referring to this series. I truly believe that he hates writing it and is only trying to finish it because he’s obligated. I’m willing to bet a large sum of money that the plans on dying first before finishing the series.