Can GRRM finish ASOIAF in 2 books?

[sifth]

Stannis went overland. Sam had to take a sea voyage from the wrong side of Westeros, around the continent, with at least one stop in Braavos.

This start quickly, then slow down, then speed up again towards the end. That's how writing goes for a lot of people.

Yes he can finish it in two books. Two very large books, with faster pacing. It can be done.

Actually Stannis went by sea too. He landed at East Watch first, before taking his men to Castle Black. In fact Davos was left behind at East Watch for some reason.

[Fat Mac]

I place faith that George can finish in two.

[sifth]

Yes, it's true. But what would be the reason to think he's going to return to the form from 15 years ago? He could, but it seems unlikely. He initially said Dance would be out a year after Feast, but it was 5+ years. The problem there was supposed to be the 5 year gap and the Meereen knot, which are supposed to have been solved now, which if true, would mean Winds would already be finished, but it looks like the best case now is 2016, another 5 years.

I'd have to reread all the sample chapters to determine if they seem closer to Feast/Dance or the first three books. The only ones I can recall with clarity are the Theon chapter, which was excellent, the Mercy chapter, which was a bit meandering and gets us nothing/nowhere on plot, just another one of Arya's adventures and the Arianne chapter, which doesn't move the plot forward much either. So, on balance, it feels like we are in Feast/Dance mode to me.

However, I still feel that we are beyond finishing in 2 books now, too much time was wasted in the last two books, too many new plots and characters and POVs introduced for it all to wrap in only two books.

I agree, the Theon chapter felt very fast paced and interesting. Barristan and Victarion's chapters just felt slow and dragged out though. Just start the battle already George, not even Black Water had this much build up. Now the Tyrion chapter which takes place after the battle FINALLY starts I rather liked. It had some very classic Tyrion lines in it. I really liked Arya's chapter as well, she was finally able to get another name off her list.

Arianne's chapter however is another example of a character just traveling and nothing really happening, basically Sam and Tyrion's plots from the last two books.

So in my option out of the 3 chapters that are out, 3 are really good and 3 are a waste of time.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

I agree, the Theon chapter felt very fast paced and interesting. Barristan and Victarion's chapters just felt slow and dragged out though. Just start the battle already George, not even Black Water had this much build up. Now the Tyrion chapter which takes place after the battle FINALLY starts I rather liked. It had some very classic Tyrion lines in it. I really liked Arya's chapter as well, she was finally able to get another name off her list.

Arianne's chapter however is another example of a character just traveling and nothing really happening, basically Sam and Tyrion's plots from the last two books.

So in my option out of the 3 chapters that are out, 3 are really good and 3 are a waste of time.

I quite liked Arianne's chapter, but I do agree - I loved to read it because I love Arianne, but it seemed like one of those scenes from games, with the screen "Loading." Nothing quite important that couldn't have been thought in a chapter that she'd actually be with Aegon and the Griff.

[l3ol3o]

I don't think he can. He has so much to still cover.

I think the only way he can finish is if he kills of a bunch of characters, cuts a bunch of plot, and changes his writing style dramatically. I just don't see it happening.

[lancerman]

The series was originally supposed to be a trilogy.

Book 1: The War of the Five Kings

Book 2: The New Targaryen Conquest

Book 3: The Others

Book 1 ended up turning into 3 books. Then he decided to make a transitional book that was designed to set pieces in play for the next arc. That turned into two books.

Maybe GRRM changed his plans, but he's really like 1/3 of the way through his original arc. Could he do everything in 2 books? Yeah. His track record is very suspect however.

[Cas Stark]

I agree, the Theon chapter felt very fast paced and interesting. Barristan and Victarion's chapters just felt slow and dragged out though. Just start the battle already George, not even Black Water had this much build up. Now the Tyrion chapter which takes place after the battle FINALLY starts I rather liked. It had some very classic Tyrion lines in it. I really liked Arya's chapter as well, she was finally able to get another name off her list.

Arianne's chapter however is another example of a character just traveling and nothing really happening, basically Sam and Tyrion's plots from the last two books.

So in my option out of the 3 chapters that are out, 3 are really good and 3 are a waste of time.

I read the Theon chapter and was like, WHY wasn't this in the book? There is more action and resolution in that one chapter than in like 100+ pages of ADWD.

I may not have read the Tyrion sample chapter, nothing at all comes to mind. I find Vic is interesting, but "interesting" doesn't move the plot forward, Barristan, it was decent. I love Arya and I liked the chapter, but it was long and nothing new except she's veering more and more into a danger zone, we had an entire book of this already. Arianne sets my teeth on edge, so I have a tough time being objective about her POV, but traveling traveling isn't a good sign.

For me, when he said that Dany spends multiple chapters with the Dothraki and that she and Tyrion are apart for I forget exactly what he said, a good part of the book, that was the death knell, that he wasn't even getting everyone out of Essos until the END of the next book best case scenario...then how is he going to finish Dany's invasion and the Others in a final 8th book. Impossible.

[Lord Varys]

AGoT gave us the means to measure the time that has passed. Joffrey's nameday was shortly before Jon Arryn's death, and it returns again in the first Sansa chapter of ACoK when Joff turns thirteen.

I'm not so sure if George 'allowed more time to pass' or if he simply realized that it made little sense that nothing happened in between those chapters. In fact, a lot of issues I had with the novel when I first began reading AGoT was this feeling to read a very disjointed novel actually consisting of a series of short stories rather than a real novel. Allowing time to pass somewhat more slowly made much more sense, especially when a lot stuff began happening.

I also think it is a mistake that we only have the amount of POVs we have in AGoT. Learning what Davos was doing back then, or getting Cersei's and Jaime's perspective even back then would have broadened and deepened the story considerably. Not to mention that it would have been nice to have a POV in Renly's camp, too - either Loras or Renly himself (Loras & Renly could have been there since AGoT; Margaery could have taken over after Renly's death)

Travel time:

Sea travel is usually much quicker in Martinworld than overland travel. Cat and Ser Rodrik got from White Harbor to KL before Robert and Ned arrived there. Stannis seems to have reached Eastwatch rather quickly, but there is a magical explanation for that. Melisandre sacrificed Lord Alester Florent, and conjured up a storm that carried Stannis fleet into the North much more quickly than normal winds would have.

Davos remained in Eastwatch because he was commanded to go to White Harbor as soon as possible. Stannis apparently could not afford to make a detour there, as he had much more pressing matters beyond the Wall.

Sam does not spend all that much at sea, he is stuck in Braavos far too long due to Maester Aemon's sickness. The travel time in itself was not as much as one would have thought (of course, spreading the journey to Oldtown over the whole book makes everything appear rather slow in AFfC).

As to the pacing of ASoS:

Doesn't the second half of that book focus almost exclusively on KL? The denseness of ASoS is bought by omitting/moving stuff into AFfC/ADwD (Aeron 1, Areo 1, and Quentyn 1 should all be ASoS material), Theon has been completely cut from the book, and not to mention that Dany, Arya, and Davos are sitting essentially on their asses while all of that happens.

Theon 1 from TWoW is dense, but note that this is all exposition, too, and the next chapter is also not yet giving us the battle, as the first Asha chapter should cover the walk to the islet and whatever happens in front of the weirwood tree. You just have the feeling that stuff is resolved there because we get the resolution of the Karstark betrayal plot.

[Berkilak]

This made me vomit a little.

Throw Greek hoplites against medieval cavalry, infantry and archers and see what happens.

I realize that the Unsullied have narrative power to them, but considering their technology and tactics, they don't stand a chance in Westeros. "But G.R.R.M. would write it so they win," is not a convincing argument.

[ChillyPolly]

I don't expect him to finish at all. I am hoping for one more volume. I do not assume the next volume will be as long as 1500 pages - rather I suspect, with 3.5 years having already elapsed, GRRM will publish when he gets a publishable chunk, even if it is only 1000 pages or less, as long as it advances the plot more than the last volume did.

If he manages to provide us with the next volume before 2018, then I will set my hopes on a seventh volume, but I still don't expect him to finish.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

Lets have a look at what really needs to happen in some general timescale.

Lannisters have to lose power, Tommen has to die, Myrcella needs to be crowned. Cersei however will likely win her trial

Aegon has to conquer Kings Landing, Dorne must go all in with him

Marge surely must lose he trial? The Tyrells either get overthrown by Aegons 'friends in the reach' or they bend the knee to Aegon

Dany has to settle the Mereen problem and make her way to Westeros, probably killing Aegon by the conclusion. This means dealing with the dothraki first however.

The Riverlands need to be liberated and the Freys need to be Nymeria chow.

Arya must return to Westeros, hopefully to do the above. I'm 70% sure that will happen

Stoneheart must die finally, perhaps having found one of her children living, maybe crowning them with Robb's crown she carries.

Sansa must kill Littlefinger and do something with the Vale.

Jon has to be resuscitated.

Sam has to return to the wall

Bran perhaps starts his return to Winterfell, if not then Meera and Hodor surely can't stay with him forever

I am 90% sure Stannis and Shireen will not make it out of Winds of Winter.

Rickon must get some closure, either we find out he's dead or he comes back to Winterfell. The Boltons must be wiped out.

The Starks must be in their ascendancy by the end of Winds of Winter. They have to be in a position to kick rear end

The Others must make their big move by the conclusion of Winds of Winter, it seems like the Wall will fall. Chekhov's Horn.

Zombie Apocolypse!

The South need to find out about and take seriously the threat of the Others.

Characters must converge together. Their side plots must be complete

Dany, Tyrion, Arya all have to go North I think

Cersei has to die, probably by Jaime's hand. He may go out with her but I'd find it more satisfying if he went out in a more heroic fashion. Probably won't happen.

Howland has to show up

Jon has to learn who his mother was, probably his father too

The Time of Wolves has to begin. Not Dragons. Starks will be in power.

Those are the big things I can think of. There are things like Melisandre who I think will die but there is no definite direction for her yet. Varys could survive if he plays his cards right, if he truly serves the realm and not a Targ agenda. I think their fates are tied to other events above. I see both getting to book 7.

It feels like three books or 2 books with a shock on every page.

[olenna123]

I think he could finish it in two books but the sample chapters don't give me much hope. Some of the characters are still stuck in whatever situation they were in past books, so I could definitely see George announcing 1 or 2 more books to wrap the story up.

[Cas Stark]

Truth be told, 9 books would be more balanced, 3 books for each book of the original trilogy, even though he still would be behind the 8-ball plotwise since it doesn't look like a sure thing that Dany makes it to Westeros in Book 6. But, if it goes to 9 then I would have to seriously question if he can finish it. So, I hope for 8, 7 would be a miracle.

[Colonel Green]

Throw Greek hoplites against medieval cavalry, infantry and archers and see what happens.

I realize that the Unsullied have narrative power to them, but considering their technology and tactics, they don't stand a chance in Westeros. "But G.R.R.M. would write it so they win," is not a convincing argument.

Convincing in what sense? GRRM clearly views these guys as an elite infantry force, much like the Dothraki are a nigh-unstoppable horde that every civilization in Essos prefers to buy off rather than fight. In the real world, their tactics are super out-of-date, but from all indications that is not considered to be the case in the world of ASOIAF.

[Ramsay's Penguins]

It's telling that the first book in the series turned into 5 books (7 if you count split volumes) and now the next 2 thirds are going to be a book each, when the first third was 5 books?

Nah. Feast and Dance were a stab to pacing, and should have been utilised better. He planted to many flowers until he couldn't see the weeds, and now the weeds are overgrowing the flowers. And that doesn't even bring the vegetables into it.

[ipsuel]

I think a lot of this comes down to editing.... if these next 2 books can be written "tightly" so to speak, then yes, he definitely can finish in 2 books. But part of that is editing. (The Theon Gift Chapter is a great example of tight writing (as is GoT, SoS)....

But, if they're allowed to kind of drag on, ala AFfC and ADwD, then no, 2 books won't cut it.

[SweetPea]

Based on the Arianne sample chapter, there's no way he can finish in two books. More like four. Seriously, if he keeps writing chapters like that, he will never finish the story. I'd be the happiest person alive if he still had four books left to give us a more detailed version, but he simply doesn't have enough time for that. At this point I'm just hoping for two super-fast paced books, and a chance that the series will be finished. Unfortunately, that chance is getting lower every day.

[mee aar dun wee wee]

I started reading this series after a friend left the first book at my place. I had heard some hype and after reading agot I was hooked. It wasn't until I finished the 4th book that I found out the story was still be written.. so frustrating. When u look at the other material he's producing and the fact he doesn't seem to be worried about picking up the pace it makes think he either has no idea how to finish it, he knows how he's going to finish it but doesn't like it, or my favourite wishful thinking option he has written them already and will release them just as the shows finishing.

[Cladinator]

I don't see why he couldn't finish it in two books. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being eight books in total.

Only time and GRRM himself can tell, though. If he needs to write more (as he's had to do in the past) then I suppose he will.

Whatever happens, I'll be happy to read.

[Cas Stark]

When I read that he says he loses interest if he has to do an outline, I wondered if the outline he had to do for HBO has made him lose interest, that, and/or he doesn't like the ending but he's stuck with it, and if trying to spice things up is also a bit of a reason why there are now so many secondary extraneous characters and plots. It's hard to understand the procrastination when it has gone hand in hand with an obvious wish that the series be completed prior to the show ending. It's weird. re

If Winds was out, or there was a sense it would come out in 2015, hope for 2 more books would feel more realistic to me, but the longer the wait, the more it feels like he's still stuck or uninterested or gardening and that the final product isn't going to be the tightly edited, honed structure that would be needed to make 2 more books realistic. Plus, he has always been wrong I think, in terms of it always taking longer and becoming more and more detailed over time than what he has predicted.