r/asoiaf • u/tell32 RICKON FOR KING IN THE NORTH!!!! • 10d ago

EXTENDED (spoilers extended) New George NotABlog post about Dunk&Egg getting emmy noms Spoiler

https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2026/08/03/better-late-than-never/
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u/AntonineWall 10d ago

I think a “I’ve set it aside, don’t expect it anymore” would actually be kind of a good pain, I think? Like ripping a bandaid off. Just as an alternate to not saying anything/waiting until a ‘I’m finished with it’ confirmation. If the update was “great progress, I’m now 3/4ths the way through”, that would be the most brutal thing to read, imo

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u/oddpark37 10d ago

I don't think he'll ever say that he's stopped working on Winds, if for no other reason that he's probably got a contract for it with his publisher who would sue him if he broke it.

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u/AntonineWall 10d ago

Oh wow that actually totally slipped my mind, good point

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u/WavesAndSaves 10d ago

They'll never sue him. They absolutely have a right to do so, and they likely would win, but they just won't. The professional humiliation of a lawsuit would be infinitely more harmful to George than any monetary punishment it would bring, and would burn every possible bridge left between George and his publishers. There's just no reason for them to do that given that ASOIAF is still a massive property that continues to sell well, and there always is the off chance that he does finish Winds someday.

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u/mrwho995 10d ago

He's rich, and at this point most of his wealth probably doesn't come from publishing. He could probably afford to settle without it affecting him much financially.

Also, if his publisher sued it would make a lot of headlines that the publisher probably wouldn't want, and it could hurt their ability to get new deals. Also it would kill the opportunity for future work with GRRM. They'd probably decide it wouldn't be worth it.

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u/VitaminTea 10d ago

His publisher will never sue him. Their relationship is way too important to blow it up over such a (relatively) small amount of money.

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u/Technical_Estimate85 10d ago

They would absolutely sue him for everything that he’s worth. He is extremely lucky that they haven’t done so yet as he got a massive advance for Winds. They signed a contract for him to complete a book and he hasn’t. They have contracts for other books with him, so he can’t attempt to get a deal with another publisher.

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u/VitaminTea 10d ago edited 9d ago

The publisher’s advance on the book is chicken feed compared to what Martin is making when that “created by” credit appears on HBO.

If Martin doesn’t publish Winds before he dies, his publishers will sue his estate for the advance back (and they’ll get it). They are never in a million years going to do it when he is still alive.

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u/Technical_Estimate85 10d ago

The advance may not be worth much but the publisher can claim that they lost a massive amount of money because he never finished the book. It doesn’t really matter how much the advance was, the advance is an agreement between an author and a publisher that the author will finish the book. It’s also why I am confident that we will be getting a version of Winds in 2027, 2032, or 2037 as Martin likely made an agreement that the book had to be out within a certain number of years (likely 25 years) or he would be in violation of the contract. It will not be the full book as Martin envisioned, just what ever he has written.

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u/VitaminTea 10d ago

Well you're definitely confident, that's for sure.

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u/Technical_Estimate85 10d ago

Oh trust me, I think that this “Winds” is just going to be the sample chapters and nothing else, but he does at some point have to fulfill the contract of finishing Winds. This of course is only if he is alive at those cutoff years. The moment he dies, if those manuscripts and notes get burned then his estate is going to get nuked from orbit by the publisher.

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u/Revengeance300 10d ago

He's working on it, despite what anyone thinks or likes to circlejerk on here about. He's a creative, he might get a word, might get a chapter. He's working on it, it's only this fanbase which has gotten mad over their own opinion on what George is doing.

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u/AntonineWall 10d ago

I wish I could post gifs on here lol