The new covers
https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2024/07/09/on-the-road-again-5/
Blog about TWOW where he assures the book reveal will be a huge event.
Let me say a few words about that, though. Last year, when I mentioned seeing my Voyager editor in London, the internet went nuts, throwing up all sorts of theories about how this meant that WINDS OF WINTER was done and a huge announcement was at hand. Uhhhh… sorry guys, but no. That's not how it works. Making contacts… which often turn into friendships… is a huge part of publishing. Most of my communication with my editors and publishers is conducted via emails, phone calls, zooms, and texts (in the old days, we had letters written on paper too)
So calm down, please. When WINDS OF WINTER is done, the word will not trickle out, there WILL be a big announcement… where and when I cannot say.
https://old.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/1dzk4gq/spoilers_main_grrm_when_winds_of_winter_is_done/
ASOIAFcels 
for the 100th time
!bookworms !kino do you like the new covers?
.webp?h=8 "Merry Fistmas!")
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it's not coming out until after he dies and someone else writes it. he's too busy writing dozens and dozens and dozens of other things to finish the story that made him incredibly rich/famous because he's had to completely change it all after his story got such a negative reaction when the show did it. he had that ending in his head for decades. he never even entertaining anything else. now he's stuck with zero ideas for how to fix it.
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But the show didn't set up anything properly, it's totally possible to set up Danaerys burning down King's Landing, and Bran the Broken becoming the new king, and all of it making sense. Plus the show changed so much.
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there's literally no way to make bran king and it not be the dumbest thing ever he's a cripple
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And? Even a literal corpse could be made king, if everything in the story is set up correctly so it makes sense.
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What
@coned means is that the lords of Westeros will never accept a cripple as a King for 2 reasons.
1. they're prejudiced and cripples are a sign of weakness. One of the main reasons Tywin hates Tyrion is because he's a dwarf which makes House Lannister look weak and bad in front of the rest, that's why he refused to acknowledge Tyrion as the heir of Casterly Rock. Others like Randyll Tarly are willing to murder their own children for not fitting their standards.
2. Bran can't father children, that makes him a dead end. Ambitious lords want their grandchildren sitting on the Iron Throne and the whole "elective monarchy" they came up at the show is a recipe for disaster. I guess Bran's siblings could be made his heirs.
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my man!
even him being literally magic doesn't matter. that shit would never fly and no amount of writing would make it work for me.
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those are good points
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nope cripples can't be king
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Fans would have been fine with the ending if the show runners had found a non r-slurred way to get to the ending. Seasons 7-8 of GOT felt like a cliffnotes version of the story compared to the rest of the series. I really doubt GRRM wrote that Bran would become king because Tyrion gave a heartfelt speech about Bran having the best story, oh and Sam invents democracy off the cuff but gets laughed at.
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