I'm pretty sure the Children were fighting on the side of men the first time the Others attacked, plus I thought the obsidian weapons were what the Children used which would suggest they were fighting the Others after they were driven north of the Wall. If they're just (mostly)mindless zombies that want to kill things though I don't see what the big deal is, make sure you've got some fire and obsidian swords and it seems pretty straightforward.
If I was 65 years old and people started speculating about my death, I'd probably say the same thing.
Even if you put aside his health, the pace at which he's writing and his advanced age would make him an extremely poor bet to finish the series before he dies.
7 years to write a book that was supposedly half done when he started on it, at least 3 more books, that's some ugly math.
At least 3 more books? I think that's an assumption. He mentioned the possibility of an 8th book to his editor, he didn't state anything. I'll give 2 more years for the publishing of book 6. 67 years old. Another 8 years for book 7. 75. That gives him his deathbed to work on his Wildcards rhapsody.
Maybe if they cancelled all fantasy conventions that he could possibly attend. From what he's said before he really doesn't enjoy writing all that much and I can't see that changing as he gets older and has a Scrooge McDuck pit of HBO money at home to support himself with.
For someone who has written a story that has basically created a huge cult, not a cult following but an actual cult, he has a talent for what he professes not to like. He may not find the fortitude to finish his books, but I can see a Misery-esque situation happening in a few years, bet on it.
I sure as hell hope we're not waiting 10 more years for two books. I don't get him, man. This is his bread and butter, this is what has got him his money and fame. It's what people are going to be reading of his long after he's dead. Why wouldn't he make that priority #1? I don't necessarily want him banging out a book a year that ends up as complete garbage but I also can't think of another author who takes so long to write what is essentially his main body of work. It took King a long time to finish the Dark Tower series but he'd written like 1,093,841 (mostly bad) books in the interim. It's just frustrating because we all love the series and the world he's created and want more and it takes forever. I honestly do think he's going to die before he finishes the series and they'll pass his work off to some up and coming guy like what happened with Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time series (which I haven't ready but I like the author who replaced him, Brandon Sanderson). I think Clive Cussler is like 75 years old and "co-authors" all of his books now, which is basically code for we need his name on the cover or it won't sell but he's not capable of doing it himself, so I could see something like that happening with GRRM as well.
He's romancing his past. In the 80s and 90s he didn't have the money to pursue what he loved, now he has that cash and wants to make those things that inspired him to happen. Bullshit like Wild Cards. He's forgetting what got him here because he finally has the money to do what he couldn't do as a dumb asshole comic book writer. I think 3rd may be right, he doesn't care about finishing this story. And of he does... I think he may half ass it out of spite.
I think the quote about writing was something along the lines of I don't enjoy writing but I enjoy having written. I don't necessarily think he doesn't care I think it's more that he's lazy and it's much easier to re-release a bunch of your old stories or slap your name on some anthology rather than worry about filling the 5 year gap or untangling the Merenese knot. I still have some small hope that he'll get past all this horseshit and back to the story he originally wanted to tell and finish up the last couple books in a timely manner. Honestly the delay between the books is only troubling to me because based on the last 2 with long waits in between it means the book is going to suck.
http://imgur.com/a/NdS7x/ ASOIAF inspired art, from Reddit. There are a handful of shit entries, but a lot of funny stuff and a mother load of really impressive art.
http://www.businessinsider.com/fans-guess-game-of-thrones-ending-2014-8 Spoilers! GRRM said fans have guessed the ending. This might seem shocking, but considering the series has been out for so long AND there are so many theories, one was bound to be correct.
I saw that too and read thru that Reddit post. Pretty good stuff. Would be interesting to get the Others' point of view on things.
Read a good theory that Arya Stark will in her first assassination be sent to kill... ... Arya Stark. Aka Jeyne Poole. Also saw that tonight or last night GRRM was lamenting the death of "a favorite character" on Notablog. Most of the Westeros tards and crying in panic that it's Dany or Tyrion or someone else significant. I'm guessing he finally got around to the chapter where Victarion kills Ser Barristan, which is likely one of the first chapters in the book. I'm still sifting through crap on that forum, because I have to wake up at 2pm for a conference call.
Quote from neckbeard: "I'm not writing a script for season 5, but I'm still a co-executive producer, so I'm still involved on that level," Martin told Digital Spy. "It takes me about three weeks to a month to write a script, and with all the pressure to finish and deliver 'The Winds of Winter,' I decided my time was better spent finishing the book than taking off three weeks to a month to get a script done."
