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Ran
User ID: 0867924
Jan 6th 11:40 AM
Martin recently mailed various folk with some news about what's going on with SoS and other ASoIaF things. It's a long mail so I'll only summarize it. If one goes to www.westeros.org, one will find a link on the splash page talking about important news which will go directly to the mail (now Mail #62 on the So Spake Martin collection.)
Essentially: CoK is still selling strongly in the U.S. in hardback, so the publishers have pushed the paperback release in the U.S. to September. Martin suggests that anyone desperate should look into ordering the paperback from the British publisher, which has been out since around October (IIRC.)
IMPORTANT BIT
He's still working on SoS, but considers himself on the home stretch and should have it turned in soon. The publishers are gearing up to recieve it. HOWEVER, he asks that folk stop mailing him with questions about how he's doing with the book. A lot of people are doing it, and he's swamped with similar e-mails, and he hasn't time right now to get to them (he puts it less bluntly than I).
So, hold off on questions 'till we hear that he's done (I suspect we'll be among the first to hear the news.)
END IMPORTANT BIT
Of other interest, the artists for the U.K. and U.S. covers have begun work. He's told that Jim Burns (U.K.) will depict a swordfight (ooooh) and that Steven Youll (U.S.) will be showing a funeral (ooooooh....)
He also talks about touring and other appearances. :)
Again, you can find the mail at the So Spake Martin collection (www.westeros.org/Heraldry/SoSpakeMartin.html) or just go to the link on the splash spage (www.westeros.org) and it'll take you directly to the mail.
Ran
User ID: 0867924
Jan 11th 4:20 PM
Well, lets see. Linda keeps a nice list for me for questions:
When did Roose give his bastard the ring, and was a signet?
The Gold Cloaks -- were they such in the Targaryen period? (Got several historical things)
Tyrion's age?
The *** houses (following your comment about wondering which of the houses in the heraldry listing were knights and which were lords)
Coinage, particularly stags (as in, were stags original coinage or is it a new coin introduced under the Baratheon reign?)
Squire Dalbridge (the member of the Night's Watch who squired for a king) -- Which king and what happened?
What became of Summerhall after the Targaryens were deposed?
Religion of the Valyrians at the time of the Doom? Brought about mainly because the survivors who made it to Dragonstone bowed to the Seven of the Faith, but we know of the 'old gods of Valyria'.)
And finally, did anyone suggest to Ned (in Tyrion's presence) of a merciful death for Bran when he was still comatose? This one is in the back of the queue, of course, since it's something that I don't expect Martin would answer. It's obviously cover for, 'Did Robert express the idea that Bran should be killed out of mercy?' ;)
Ran
User ID: 0867924
Jan 11th 4:48 PM
Err, I just hasten to add that I don't intend to send all of those at Martin at once. ;) In fact, some of them have been lingering for some months.
Kristin
User ID: 0603144
Jan 11th 4:59 PM
This question has been lingering in my mind for a few months now....is Brienne of Tarth related to Ser Endrew Tarth of the Night's Watch? If so, how? And does Lord Selwyn have a male heir?
labor
User ID: 9614573
Jan 11th 5:10 PM
Ran, the silver stags were IIRC mentioned in the "Hedge Knight", so it would seem that they predate Robert's rule.
Yup, I was also wondering about Dalbridge. I have a loony (and completely unsupported) idea that Dalbridge was a squire to Aegon V and found himself on the Wall due to the scheming of a fellow co-squire Tywin Lannister...
Excellent questions, all.
My most "pressing" questions would be the "Northern trivia" for the most part (not that I don't have piles of the same about the position of Faith in Westeros or about Targaryens ;) ). I.e.:
Does AGOT begin in 297 AC or 298 AC and approximately how much time (in months) elapsed from beginning of AGOT to the end of ACOK?
Does GRRM intend to provide the more important characters with birth years? (i.e. controversies about Renly and Edric Storm, Benjen's and Tyrion's ages, etc)
How did Ned manage to become such a paragon Northener and a close friend of Lyanna's if he spent his time in the Vale from age 8 to 18? Or did he return home at some point (when?) and was just visiting Jon Arryn prior to and after the tourney at Harrenhal?
From what House was Ned's mother originally?
Whether and which of the Northern Houses have Stark blood through the female line(s) in the last few generations?
Which of the Waldas Frey is Bolton's wife now - Fat Walda daughter of Merrit or Fair Walda, daughter of Walton(?)?
How many swords did Bolton bring into the northern army? What about the other principal vassals (Karstarks, Umbers, Tallharts (?))?
How many swords did Winterfell summon directly from lands belonging to it?
Ran
User ID: 0867924
Jan 11th 5:12 PM
Damn, you're right labor. ;) Stags are mentioned in the Hedge Knight. Guess I answered this one for myself already (I've got a note in the Concordance about it) but forgot to remove the question.
KAH
User ID: 0541004
Jan 12th 10:08 AM
Well, I had a few more questions than I come up with here, but I always forget to write 'em down, so I constantly have to 'reinvent' them. :P
1. How is the Night's Watch financed? Gold from the crown, or Winterfell, or both? (I expect the latter, perhaps a bigger part from Winterfell in later years)
2. How do the Brothers pay for 'buried treasures' in Moletown?
As to this;
Considering how the Brothers receive no coin payment for their sworn service, I'd suspect they pay in goods filched from Watch stores, or otherwise acquired (don't ask me how).
However, there are some oddities. When Halder and Pyp(?) offered to pay for Grenn's first woman at Moletown, I had the impression that they were going to pay with _coin_.
Also, it doesn't seem to me that prospects of being paid in _goods_ would attract many women willing to sell their bodies to Moletown...unless life is much harsher close to the Wall than I think (I suppose that is a vaild possibility).
3. Where are the Septons and Septas of the Faith educated? At the Great Sept of Baelor in KL, at the Citadel, or by wandering or stationary senior Septas/Septons (i.e. no firm structure of education)?
I _also_ thought about Squire Dalbridge, after my last recent re-read. :o)
Well, that's all I can recall on the top of my head...maybe I'll find more later.
labor
User ID: 0798784
Jan 12th 10:57 AM
Excellent, excellent questions, KAH. I have thought about the Watch financing, the brothers private funds and the Faith too, but either forgot my questions or wanted to ask others first! And the good thing you finally wrote them down ;). I positively salivate awaiting the glad news that the MS is finished. We have a chance to learn quite a few interesting pieces of information!
Interesting things I also intend to sometime (not soon) ask about the Faith:
How is the Faith financed? (I don't think that they could live from voluntary offerings only) Is there a tax, does one have to pay for their services (naming, interrement, marriage, etc), or do they have holdings? Some combination of the above?
How much political power and autonomy does the Faith have? I.e. what's the deal with Tyrion naming the new High septon?
Is there a system of "monasteries"?
Does one need to pay a sum of money (dowry) in order to be accepted as sept* in spe into the Faith? The fact that they don't seem to collect orphans seems to suggest so...
Unlike M.A. Europe, nobility, Westerosi nobility apparently isn't educated in the establishments of the Faith. Are there sept schools for children of merchants etc.?
KAH
User ID: 0541004
Jan 12th 4:04 PM
Another question;
How much power does the Grand Maester have in the Citadel?
Frankly, I'm not sure about this one...he supposedly stays at the small council all the time. I suppose it means he has not got much of a grip on Citadel business.
Moreta
User ID: 0701364
Jan 14th 0:06 AM
A couple questions here...
I'd like a definite answer about how Jaime joined the Kingsguard (with or without Tywin's permission).
How come Tywin never remarried after Lady Joanna died?
And yes, I've wondered a lot about Summerhall. Do the Martells have it or is it burned down?
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