Appearing at an event in London put on by British publisher Waterstones, A Song of Ice and Fire author and Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin gave us some insight into where his head is at these days, including a look at the next few projects he has planned. Let’s take a closer look.
Thanks to Adam Whitehead of The Wertzone blog for live-tweeting the interview. The most interesting thing Martin said probably involved his writing schedule:
George confirming his schedule is TWoW - Dunk & Egg 4 - ADoS - D&E 5 - Fire & Blood 2.
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
Naturally, the long delayed next chapter in the Song of Ice and Fire saga, The Winds of Winter, is next in line for completion, although Martin was clear he still does not have an exact release date for that book.
Somewhat surprisingly, Martin does not next plan to write A Dream of Spring, the purported final book in the series, but rather return to his Tales of Dunk and Egg prequel novellas, a series of shorter stories set about a hundred years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. The three stories out so far follow the adventures of the knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Aegon V Targaryen, also known as “Egg.”
Image via Random House
You may remember that Egg actually got a mention in Game of Thrones, when Maester Aemon was dying at Castle Black. “Egg, I dreamed I was old.”
On the one hand, the Dunk and Egg novellas are rather short compared to a proper Song of Ice and Fire book, meaning he could theoretically crank that out pretty quickly. Plus, the fourth Dunk and Egg story, The She-Wolves of Winterfell, was originally going to be published in an anthology book way back in 2013, so you’ve got to figure it’s already partially done, if not nearly complete.
On the other hand, people are really eager to read the end of A Song of Ice and Fire. We’ve already waiting a very long between between A Dance of Dragons and Winds…we’re still waiting. Anything between Martin and completing the series is sure to raise an eyebrow.
After Dream comes a fifth Dunk and Egg story, and then the second volume of Fire and Blood, Martin’s history book about the Targaryen dynasty. Brace for adventure.
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Around that bombshell, Martin dropped some other interesting tidbits:
GRRM confesses to stealing the map of Ireland for Westeros.
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
Still regrets Renly's horse changing sex between books. pic.twitter.com/jeV0c2RbIT
GRRM dropping f-bombs recalling his frustration with Hollywood in the 1990s, which resulted in AGoT.
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
GRRM saying that Scottish history is far bloodier than Westerosi history in general. Mentions the Black Dinner as inspiration for Red Wedding but he turned it up to 11. The TV show turned it up to 14.
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
Confirmation that Fire & Blood was written by accident: originally it was sidebar material for World of Ice & Fire that got out of control. He wrote hundreds of thousands of words in a few weeks and scared his publishers and had to stop so Elio & Linda could compress it down.
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
Onto the spin-offs. Bloodmoon sounds like a working title for the first. GRRM still holding out for The Long Night (or The Longest Night).
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
If people can't agree on that, which happened yesterday in historical terms, how much can someone say for sure about events from a thousand years ago?
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
George asked who his favourite dragon is: Balerion. And his favourite sword is Dawn.
— Werthead (@Werthead) August 8, 2019
What do you all make of this? Anything stand out?
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