Perhaps, prior to Sinquefeld, Magnus signed this NDA to see chess.com’s list of cheaters and saw Niemann on there. Fabi says that Magnus was considering withdrawing when he saw Niemann was going to be playing, but we don’t know what convinced him to play. Maybe Magnus intentionally prepared a really obscure line to see if Niemann was cheating, and after Hans whipped out all of the computer moves in the opening, Magnus considered his suspicions confirmed, and his play faltered because of that. Then, after seeing Hans fail to understand why he had even made the right moves, Magnus felt certain about his suspicions and withdrew, but he can’t say anything because most of his logic is based on chess.com data.

I think this theory makes the most sense so far, whether Hans actually cheated or not, it explains everyone’s reactions.

Every year since 2018 I had set a goal of 52 books a year. Last year didn't go this way for me. It started off well, but quickly descended into a kind of reading constipation. Covid probably played a role, and I know for a fact that some other major factors in my life did. I ended up reading only 10 books in the whole of 2021. When I knew that this was going to be the case, I expected to feel a kind of bitter regret, the feeling of having missed out on lots of wonderful opportunities. Instead, looking back over the 10 books I read last year, I feel happy. Each book I finished last year was brilliant, and each one I will cherish forever.

The circumstances in my life that caused the drastic drop in my reading are now mostly better. But rather than setting a 52 book goal, I've set a goal to read 24 books. Two a month. This means that...

• I never have to pick up a shorter book just to hit my monthly targets.
• I never have to slog through a book that I have read 70% of and decided I don't like, just so I can list it in my Goodreads.
• I never have to feel guilty about having a "book hangover" after reading an especially impactful book, and taking a few days to recuperate.

I don't regret my 52 book goals. They taught me that I can read as much as I'm willing to put time in to reading. And they built a strong habit that makes it hard for me to imagine not reading every day, not carrying a book everywhere I go. They also allowed me to experience variety and to experiment with what I read. But, at this stage of my life, I've outgrown these goals. They no longer serve their purpose. I have learnt to do these things naturally.

Around this time of year, everybody is setting their Goodreads goals, and bunkering up for an exciting year of reading. The purpose of this post is just to make you ask what goal would really serve you best at this point in your life. Is it a lofty one, that forces you into good reading habits and experimentation, or is it a smaller one, that allows you to make the most of your reading, and spend more time reading less?

I think George RR Martin could be writing non-ASOIAF material under a pseudonym.

I know, I know, it sounds unbelievable. But hear me out.

George RR Martin has, despite the reading public's refusal to admit it, written a hell of a lot of words. According to my research, he has written 1,736,054 words for the main ASOIAF series alone. That's after the heavy cutting and revision that his books no doubt endure. To put that in perspective, The Lord of the Rings amounts to roughly 576,459 words, and that took a genius like Tolkien about 17 years to write.

So while I wouldn't say George RR Martin is prolific, prior to the release of A Dance with Dragons in 2011 he certainly wasn't the slow writer that everybody claims he is. So what has caused this sudden slowing down? Well, there are quite a few possibilities. I think there are two very reasonable ideas, and then my outlandish (but I think possible) theory.

The most likely boring theory is this: do you know what also happened in 2011? Oh yeah, it was the year that the Game of Thrones TV show premiered! I don't think it's at all likely that being propelled into global fame can upend your life and your routines. Imagine how much bigger this impact would be at GRRM's age. If you're doubting that fame has caused GRRM difficulties, here are some words from the man himself:

“Like every other young writer I dreamed of fame and fortune. Having achieved them I can tell you that fortune is great,” he says.

...

“I like the fortune part of it. Fame is definitely a double-edged sword … If I’m in an airport or a big city, any kind of public event, I have to be prepared to be recognised, everybody wants a selfie. The fans are usually very nice but you can’t control it, you can’t turn it off. We all have bad days when we’d just like to be left alone, you don’t get to have that option any more … It’s a mixed blessing, definitely.”

There are many more interviews where George RR Martin talks about this. When you also consider the fact that George RR Martin is currently working on the Wild Cards series, five different GoT prequel series, and being constantly forced into interviews and other events, it seems perfectly reasonable that fame has had a huge impact on his output. It's possible that he's working on Winds of Winter as much as he can, but that his time is limited. But there's also another reasonable possibility.

George RR Martin is bored of the ASOIAF main series.

I mean, it makes sense, right? He wouldn't be the first writer to get bored of a long (read: LONG) project. Obviously it's heartbreaking for us readers, but boredom is the kiss of death for a creative person. This theory would mean that GRRM is still writing at a good pace, but just not working on ASOIAF.

The heavy workload that GRRM is under makes this seem more likely. He certainly doesn't seem to have issues with his productivity when it comes to Wild Cards, interviews, and his blog. I wouldn't be surprised if he's written an ASOIAF novel's word count in blog posts since 2011. In this time, he has also written lots of supplementary material for A World of Ice and Fire and has also written the hulking Fire and Blood--which is only the first part of two!

I think this is a key point. It isn't like George RR Martin has written barely anything since 2011. If you take in to account all the editing work he does and the supplementary materials, he has actually written quite a lot. Fire and Blood is not just a big book, it is also a brilliant book. It's as good as anything in the main series and was undoubtedly the best book I read that year. In 2015 he also released Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which was also a fantastic book, and contains some of my favourite novellas. Also, much of the advertisement on his website and blog seems to be for the Wild Cards series, rather than ASOIAF. This could be that ASOIAF no longer needs that advertising to sell, but it's still worth thinking about. Either way, I think we can ascertain that GRRM has still done a decent amount of brilliant writing since 2011. He is definitely not as slow as he is painted, even if he isn't exactly prolific.

The leads me on to my tinfoil theory. Notice that all of the books published with GRRM's name since 2011 have either been ASOIAF-related materials or using his name to sell copies (like Wild Cards)? Well, I don't think GRRM would find it so easy to remain squarely in one genre for all this time. Throughout his career, he has frequently lamented the fact that people try to pigeonhole authors into a genre. And George RR Martin himself isn't just a fantasy writer. In fact, he's probably more aligned with sci-fi than fantasy.

His first book was a sci-fi and his second was a horror. Most of the short stories spanning his early career were science fiction. If you're aware of the origin story of ASOIAF, then you know he was originally writing a sci-fi, before he had the idea for ASOIAF and wrote that instead. I have also seen countless interviews where GRRM talks about the books he wants to write after ASOIAF is finished (none of them were fantasy) and even more interviews where he laments that nobody talks about the non-fantasy books he wrote before ASOIAF. On a related note, I have seen interviews where he refuses the separate definitions of these genres, and prefers to call them "Weird Fiction".

So, isn't is possible that George RR Martin is still writing at the same speed as ever, but just working on different projects? I think it is, and these projects would be published under a pseudonym, rather than incurring the Wrath of the Fans that he undoubtedly would for publishing non-ASOIAF material.

I want to pose one more question before I finish:

Does it matter?

The knee-jerk reaction might be to say yes, but I don't think that's fair. George RR Martin is 72. He has struggled with the idea of mortality since his good friend Tom Reamy died at only 42 years old. For a friend who was such a brilliant and talented writer to die so early in their career really shook GRRM, and it was the event that led him to quit teaching and pursue a full-time writing career. If you read George RR Martin's blog then you know that he has written a lot recently about the deaths of beloved friends and colleagues. I'm sure the constant public speculation about his health and weight hasn't exactly helped this.

So I would argue that George RR Martin is entitled to write absolutely whatever he wants. We only get one life, and as much as I'd love a satisfactory conclusion to one of the best fantasy series ever written, I have enough empathy to say that I'd prefer George RR Martin to make the most out of his life. Whatever he writes and is kind enough to share with us, I'd love to read. And I'm grateful for what he has already written and given to the world.

If you read all of this, then thanks. I hope it was enjoyable! I put my sources for the quotes below.

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SOURCES:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/10/books-interview-george-rr-martin

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/18/george-rr-martin-interview-game-of-thrones-at-own-pace-now