[Werthead]

Since this report contains some new information on the expected completion of ADWD, discussion can take place. But if it degenerates into sniping and flaming again, the thread will be closed. Cheers.

As reported by Raul on the Chronicles Network here.

GRRM is aiming (not set in stone, not a deadline, not a contracted finish date) and hopes to finish ADWD in late September/early October for release in the UK in February 2010. American release will be shortly after that if he reaches that target. If not, later.

Filming on the TV series begins in October in Ireland (which we knew) and Tunisia (which we didn't). He's not concerned about HBO messing the series up as the books are still there on people's shelves and aren't going anywhere.

EDIT: Apparently Tunisia was a misunderstanding. Morocco remains the secondary filming location.

The five-year-gap is completely gone, dusted, destroyed. If he still had it he'd have to explain that the Others had gone off on a five-year-trip to the Bahamas or something, which isn't going to fly. The dragons accordingly won't be as big as Balerion or anything like that.

Lady Merryweather and Varys aren't the same person ( :huh: ). We will learn more about Varys 'very soon'. He also cited Dolorous Edd as an example of a minor character who has become a bigger player than he planned. He is inspired by Tolkien's bittersweet endings and hates happy endings.

GRRM seemed to have been in excellent humour, not being annoyed by the ADWD question and even batting the "What happens if you die before completion?" question with little rancor, just repeating the, "You're shit out of luck," line.

Overall: a very positive-sounding Q&A session. Sounds like that light at the end of the tunnel may have been closer than some of the pessimists were claiming.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 15 July 2009 - 01:28 PM

[Phoenix-torn]

Yay! More positive words!

[Xray the Bolshevist]

Werthead, on Jul 14 2009, 12.37, said:

Lady Merryweather and Varys aren't the same person ( :huh: ).

:rofl:
IIRC, wasn't it Stego who first proposed that particular crackpot theory here?

[Ran]

Cool. :)

[Werthead]

Xray the Enforcer, on Jul 14 2009, 18.16, said:

:rofl:
IIRC, wasn't it Stego who first proposed that particular crackpot theory here?

Either Stego or Nightflyer :unsure:

[Jussi]

Martin gave the October date also in Finncon, before he read the ADwD prologue.

[Miriel]

Great stuff! I am so excited to hear maybe we are really getting close to ADWD!!!

As far as the television series, what scenes are there from AGOT that would need to be filmed in Tunisia? Pentos maybe? Although when I picture the "Free Cities" in my mind Tunisia is not the first place that I think of ... Isn't that where a lot of the desert scenes in Star Wars were filmed?

[Werthead]

Miriel, on Jul 14 2009, 20.23, said:

Great stuff! I am so excited to hear maybe we are really getting close to ADWD!!!

As far as the television series, what scenes are there from AGOT that would need to be filmed in Tunisia? Pentos maybe? Although when I picture the "Free Cities" in my mind Tunisia is not the first place that I think of ... Isn't that where a lot of the desert scenes in Star Wars were filmed?

I'm thinking that having a secondary base in Tunisia will be useful not just for AGoT but also the later books. The Red Waste, for example, will need something like the Tunisian desert, as well as the region around Qarth.

[The Czar]

Werthead, on Jul 14 2009, 22.26, said:

I'm thinking that having a secondary base in Tunisia will be useful not just for AGoT but also the later books. The Red Waste, for example, will need something like the Tunisian desert, as well as the region around Qarth.

Yea and Dorne.

[Werthead]

The Czar, on Jul 14 2009, 20.40, said:

Yea and Dorne.

Hmm. I wonder if they'll film the Tower of Joy sequence there? I know it's not in Dorne but if they want mountains that resemble the Red Mountains of Dorne (which are higher than anything in Ireland) as a backdrop, it might make sense.

[McCloskey]

Awesome news. The last few updates have all been pretty optimistic so I cant help but feel the same!

[Calibandar]

Thanks for posting this here.

Good to hear the man is in good spirits and feeling like he's nearly done. October is close, he must be in the final chapters now otherwise he wouldn't say it, or revert to his usual " well maybe by the end of the year" .

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to ADWD.

[Parris]

not sure where this 'tunisia' location idea came from, I just double-checked with RR and he says he didn't say it, but there are plans to shoot some in Morocco.

Please note that the few times George mentioned the work on Dance, he said he HOPED that it would be finished this fall, not that he was certain it would be finished this fall.

I would appreciate it if the thread noted this early on, otherwise the complaints made if the manuscript isn't in the hands of the editors by October will cause me to go beserker, take up grandpa Skull-Cleaver's axes.................well, you know the rest of that scenario.

[Werthead]

Okay, revising the thread. Cheers for that Parris.

[Gabriele]

Parris, on Jul 14 2009, 22.12, said:

Please note that the few times George mentioned the work on Dance, he said he HOPED that it would be finished this fall, not that he was certain it would be finished this fall.

I wish him luck. I'm pretty sure he wants to finish that monster as badly as we want to read it. :) From what he said about it now and then it sounds like large parts of Dance have to be dragged onto the page kicking and screaming.

[Parris]

Gabriele, on Jul 14 2009, 13.44, said:

I wish him luck. I'm pretty sure he wants to finish that monster as badly as we want to read it. :) From what he said about it now and then it sounds like large parts of Dance have to be dragged onto the page kicking and screaming.

Dragons are difficuult beasts to control, let alone teach to dance...

[Miriel]

Filming in Morocco! That is much closer to my image of the Free Cities for some reason. How exciting!

[Gabriele]

Parris, on Jul 14 2009, 23.05, said:

Dragons are difficuult beasts to control, let alone teach to dance...

So are Romans, it seems. I don't even need them to dance, but it would nice if they cooperated a bit. ;)

[Jon Targaryen]

This is good news. I was looking at GRRM's Appearance schedule recently and came to hope that he would finish it sometime before LepreCon in May 2010. I thought all these appearances bunched together in July, August and October would preclude finishing it around then. But I guess George feels he can. That's great. :thumbsup:

[Aleph]

It was me who asked about Varys. I just HAD to bring up a crackpot theory and as the one with Hot Pie is just plain ridiculous and the one with Syrio has been asked numerous times I thought I'd give it a shot.
He also said he didn't have extensive notes on ASoIaF and that the little that he has will not be published after the series has ended. He is not a world builder like Tolkien, so when he needs a ninth High Valyrian word he will make it up. He estimated it will take him 10 more years to write the last two books if I remember correctly. And yes, if he would die the series would be left unfinished and we would be "shit out of luck" as he so eloquently put it. :cool:

An interview in Estonian, unfortunately I lack the time and patience to translate this: http://www.arileht.ee/artikkel/473398
Pictures: http://publik.delfi....php?id=24544057

Edit: Well, he didn't say the series would be left unfinished in the case of his untimely death (cause: getting hit by a bus ofc :D) , but that's the way I understood it. He DID say the continuation of the series is our problem not his as being dead he couldn't care less or something along the lines of that. :) Btw, he also said his favourite book is The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald.

This post has been edited by Aleph: 14 July 2009 - 05:34 PM