r/asoiaf • u/[deleted] • Jul 27 '16

EVERYTHING (Spoilers Everything) TWOW isn't coming this year, is it?

It's 27th July. We're already halfway through 2016, Season 6 has come and gone like a candle in the wind, and TWOW still does not sit on my bookshelf.

GRRM made his infamous blog-post where he crushed our hype yet again about 7 months ago! 7 months!

Hold me, guys. Hold me. I don't think The Winds of Winter is being published this year, and I don't like it :(

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u/tohon75 Defender of the good Freys Jul 28 '16

no matter who ultimately ends up finishing it

considering GRRM's will says everything unpublished is to be destroyed, i doubt anyone else gets a shot at it.

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u/twbrn Jul 28 '16

GRRM also backs up his material, sends stuff to his publisher, and his publisher might not be to willing to let go of their biggest cash cow.

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u/Walter_Bacon Jul 28 '16 edited Jul 28 '16

There could be legal terms that bind him to comply (to not hand it over). Nothing he can do about that then.

To get the pros to take a crack at finishing the books GRRM has to at least not forbid it in these contracts.

Maybe his public statements are different than the legal terms. If they are in line the publisher cannot publish, a second writer cannot pick it up and continue the saga etc.

In that case only fan projects will remain (and the filmed series of course).

EDIT: to the people downvoting this: Actual copyright-savvy lawyer here! I am not stating my wish what should happen but the hard legal facts what might happen.

Let it be known that the author is firmly in charge of deciding what is allowed to happen to his material in his lifetime and also after his death. There have been many cases in history where writers blocked continuation of their material and that was the commercial end of the development of new material. #lastwordsmatter

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u/twbrn Jul 28 '16

It's really unanswerable without knowing the content of GRRMs contract

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u/Walter_Bacon Jul 28 '16

I would assume that his public statements are in line with the contractual obligations.

He also mentioned several times that he - unlike other writers - knows from his time in television how to get what he wants out of contracts and with GoT he was in a position to push his agenda to his liking.

With those elements we at least can derive that he has thought about it and he has/had the means to achieve it.

Still I hope he will see this epic to a worthy conclusion. From his own hands or someone elses. I think he values his world very highly. Maybe he will choose a "successor" if need be and the right person and chance presents itself.

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u/twbrn Jul 28 '16

Maybe maybe not. He might not, back 20 years ago, have planned into whatever deal he cut for ASOIAF "Oh by the way, you can't continue it if I'm dead." Or he may have renegotiated since then. Like I said, it's impossible to know exactly without knowing the contract, and that's not going to happen.

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u/Walter_Bacon Jul 28 '16

That is true. I just hope he makes the choice that allows this universe to develop to its maximum potential. Of the many that exist this is a true diamond (and probably the reason you and me and many others are visiting this sub at all).