HEAR US WRITE!
People who prefer the books over the TV show have been growing steadily more concerned as the show crept closer and closer to the point where the books left off. The fact that the show will be revealing plot details before the novels come out did make it feel like it would be even longer before ‘The Winds of Winter’ would see print.
Of course we want authors we like to do well. They have brought us amazing stories and to see them earn fame and recognition for this makes us happy. However, we also want more of what made us like them in the first place. We want to see the story continue. We want to know what character George will drop a buss on top of next.
George. No.
If you do prefer the books, don’t worry, George hasn’t forgotten about you. He has dialled down the number of public appearances to focus on writing and he’s even shared a little something to tide you over until he finishes.
A few days ago George uploaded an excerpt from The Winds of Winter to his website. Now let us be very clear that, as this concerns the latest book in the series, this article will contain SPOILERS from this point forward.
The books are still ahead of the TV show, for now, so if you have not read A Dance with Dragons, beware!
The excerpt is a chapter from the point of view of Sansa Stark, or Alayne as she now goes by. She is posing as the bastard daughter to Petyr Baelish, better known as Littlefinger.
Knights from all over the Vale have come to the Eyrie for a grand tournament, where they can win the right to join an honour guard for the little lord Robert Arryn. We get to see Sansa in a somewhat new light.
Over the course of the excerpt she’s actually taking care of other people and acting smart. It’s clear the character has matured and that the whiny little girl she was has grown up. High time, if you ask us. It’s a very welcome change after 4 novels.
That’s not to say this isn’t the Sansa we’ve come to know. She’s still obsessed with people’s appearances, she’s still a little oversensitive and, yes, she is still somewhat whiny. It’s still too early to call Sansa a smart character, but it seems she might become that over the course of the plot.
As stated, it’s a welcome change. In 4 novels Sansa has experienced her fair share of hardship, but she’s barely grown from it as a character. We hope The Winds of Winter will finally let her grow up and take a more active role in the plot.
The excerpt is an engaging read that made us even more eager for the upcoming novel and we think it’ll do the same for you.
Don’t think that it’ll be out next month, though. No, while George is focussing more on his writing he is still very busy. For example, he will be producing an entirely new HBO show called Captain Cosmos. The show is still in very early development at the moment and, as such, details are scarce.
What we have been able to determine is that the show will centre around a young science fiction writer in 1949 at the dawn of the age of TV, writing stories no one else dares to.
It has been stated that the show will not be a big time commitment for Martin, but his exact level of involvement remains unclear so far. The pilot episode is currently being written by Michael Cassut, from syfy’s Z nation.
While it’s not enough to go on to decide if the show will be good or not, we are eager to learn more about it. We do have to wonder, though, how Martin will go about killing off his entire cast in this show.
Have you read the excerpt yet? What do you expect from Sansa, or Captain Cosmos? Let us know in the comments below!
You can find the excerpt here.
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Fanbot 
A very well written post! I fully share your opinion and can only add that George Martin has just announced his intention to publish “The winds of Winter” next year before the start of the sixth season of the TV-series – come hell or high water!
In a recent interview Martin said he just came up with a big, revealing twist on a long-time character that he never previously considered. “This is going to drive your readers crazy,” he teased, “but I love it. I’m still weighing whether to go that direction or not. It’s a great twist. It’s easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations. Otherwise, it’s just being shocking for being shocking. But this is something that seems very organic and natural, and I could see how it would happen. And with the various three, four characters involved… it all makes sense. But it’s nothing I’ve ever thought of before. And it’s nothing they can do in the show, because the show has already—on this particular character—made a couple decisions that will preclude it, where in my case I have not made those decisions.”
In this statement it becomes evident that the TV-series and the book will drift further apart. This can be confusing, but on the other hand we get two stories for the price of one! I for one am looking forward to both!
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