I have this dream that he has actually finished the books but is sitting on them until the series is finished on HBO to keep the different continuities separate. I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment.

I read he's completed 7 chapters of the last book, and can be found online. I don't seem to have any luck finding them though.

Hmmmm....very, very interesting.

What do you think of Melisandre's magic necklace she takes off which changes her into an old lady? That one surprised me.

I remember that too. Probably because of similar features between the actors

I think it's possible Howland is guarding Jon/Aegon's belongings, instead of the crypt plot, having a sword, his dad's harp, papers proving the marriage, etc.

That way there's multiple sources for the big reveal to the northsmen. Sam, Bran, Howland all together confirm it


Anyway, if Howland has something that could prove the heritage, it would also explain why he's not in the show so much. He can't leave with the property and he doesn't want to leave it unguarded. It's that telling and important of an item/items.

yep, Howland Reed has to be a part of next season. He was there. No way Ned lies to him about the baby. He is respected. There was a girl there too. Bran. The private diary. Maybe even Ned wrote the truth down somewhere. There will be enough evidence to convince the lords in the show.

He's finished 7 chapters out of the 6th book. There's going to be at least 7 and quite possibly 8. At his rate of work he's not finishing the series.

This. Even if he does manage to finish book 6, I don't think he lives long enough to finish 7, let alone the eventual 8 & 9.

i thought he said 7 for sure?

Since there is usually 6-9 years between books and his age, no way he finishes the series himself. That's not really a problem, a good writer familiar with his work should be able to finish his work.

How old is he?

I looked up how he works. Fascinating. He has been surrounded by Medieval books from customs, to tools, food, fashions...you name it.

His publisher predicted 8 not too long ago.

There are 5 books completed and published. The sample chapters on-line you reference are from the upcoming (hopefully) book 6 called Winds of Winter. It will not be the last book, there is going to be at least one more after that. However, given where things sit in the books at the end of book 5, it is fairly hard to believe he can wrap it all up in just two more books. If he does, each book is going to be 1,500+ pages.

I'm holding out hope that he has taken so long to get book 6 out because he had to also get pretty far along into book 7 to make sure it all flows together and that all the incredibly complex webs work out correctly. Also, once the show got past the books (which happened in season 6), he may be wanting to let the show play out while he works on both of the last two books. That's probably wishful thinking on my part though. But if he hasn't made his way into writing book 7 by now, the odds are pretty slim that he can get it all finished.

Here is a link that should have the sample chapters, but to be honest, they won't make much sense to you if you've only watched the show and have not read the first 5 books. The books and the show are light years apart at this point.

http://towerofthehand.com/books/106/excerpts.html

Watched Conan the barbarian the other day. Also. There was a small movie called fire & ice, characters partially created by frank frazetta (drew a lot of the Conan art).

Anyway. I was amused by some pillowbiterue similarities between the Conan movie.

And he will sale a lot more of them.

I think they are pitching five different spin offs, and doing one of them.

Roberts rebellion sounds the best of the lot. The only problem with that is that everyone knows what happens.