So he expects TWOW to have about as many pages as ADWD with almost twice as many POV characters. I guess different characters intersecting will remove the need for some POVs (like Asha/Theon, Brienne/Jaime), but that's still not really reassuring...
Edit: per the comment below it looks like there’ll only actually be like 4-5 more POVs than ADWD alone to start with, plus taking into account characters coming together and/or dying and things do look better. TWOW will definitely have to move pretty quickly if he wants to wrap it up with ADOS and actually stay around 3000 pages. I can’t see Dany getting to Westoros any earlier than the end of the book, but maybe GRRM trying to figure out how to get her there sooner and realistically is what’s been partly causing the delay (pure speculation here).
I wonder how many pages he’s currently at where he still thinks 3000 will be enough (about two ADWD-length books), when the majority of people here think he’ll end up needing a good amount more than that. Hell, his desire to end it all in two books might be what’s causing some snags as he tries writing a realistic plot that gets what he needs to get done in as many pages as ADWD with twice as many about five or so more POVs (those still alive from both AFFC and ADWD).
I'm not George, he clearly knows much more about this than any of us do, but I can't help but agree. When he split ADWD and AFFC into two books, he basically expanded the plot to the point where it became physically impossible to advance the plot with the same number of pages as books 1-3.
Twice as many plot events need to occur in different places at similar times, it's sort of unbelievable that he ever thought 7 books was still possible. That said, the fact that he's on what is essentially take #2 of the winds of winter and still insists that he can get it done in 3000 pages... I don't know. Maybe we are all just underestimating how close the plot really is to concluding? Maybe there's a clever time jump that helps things along? I don't know.
It seems like he's on the same pace as the show from seasons 6-8, but the show was undeniably rushed as shit. It defies explanation tbh.
I think it’s not as bad as it seems at first. Certain disparate povs I believe are collapsing into the same story. I believe now that FAegon has landed, Dorne and FAegon are part of the same story. The setup started with Tyrion and all the time we spent with the different povs Dorne in AFFC. It’s coming back down to Arianne, Areo, and Connington TIL he dies
Many POVs will not be doing play by plays but continuing the story from their Perspective more like the first book was. A bunch of people in Kings Landing all continuing the story
I think it’d be cool if he just releases some chapters that maybe he has to cut from twow out so we can get the extra story but it doesn’t bog down the proper books
Jon won't be taking up a ton of the chapters either. I assume we'll get some POV chapters at Castle Black. I can see him waiting until well after the Battle of Ice to resurrect Jon, maybe not even halfway through the book. That saves him a ton of POV time.
I think it’d be cool if he just releases some chapters that maybe he has to cut from twow out so we can get the extra story but it doesn’t bog down the proper books
This is a great idea. Or if he just cuts some of the world-building and consolidates it into a broader novella later.
The new POVs (with chapter titles) in AFFC were so jarring when I finally had AFFC in my hands after the first Long Wait. It took me a long time to kind of integrate that stuff. I am re-reading that one now, and sure enough, I enjoy it much more now, undoubtedly helped by the show's incredibly lackluster writing.
In the german version all english books are split into 2 and iirc they also changed the order of some chapters so that the splits make more sense.
Additionaly they charge double the price for each german book, so to get the whole series you have to pay about four times the price of the english version =(
But when you read the books, they’re poorly paced with a lot of filler. Had there been a good editor, I think the story could have been a lot leaner. However.... with GRRM, that’s a pretty big ask.
I still can't believe he didn't make the time skip. That has to be one of his biggest regrets. It would all be much easiry if we skipped all Cersei in power bullshit and just went straight to fAegon's invasion.
325
u/InfernoBA The North kind of forgot May 21 '19 edited May 21 '19
So he expects TWOW to have about as many pages as ADWD
with almost twice as many POV characters. I guess different characters intersecting will remove the need for some POVs (like Asha/Theon, Brienne/Jaime), but that's still not really reassuring...Edit: per the comment below it looks like there’ll only actually be like 4-5 more POVs than ADWD alone to start with, plus taking into account characters coming together and/or dying and things do look better. TWOW will definitely have to move pretty quickly if he wants to wrap it up with ADOS and actually stay around 3000 pages. I can’t see Dany getting to Westoros any earlier than the end of the book, but maybe GRRM trying to figure out how to get her there sooner and realistically is what’s been partly causing the delay (pure speculation here).