[Optimus Prime]

Wow. Was it dieting or a coke binge?

I can't see how HBO is too keen on doing business with him, ala a ASoIaF tv series, if he is taking this long on one book. How is he going to be a consultant on a tv series of a set of books that isn't even done yet?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I just hope the tv series is half ass good as that fake movie trailer is. That thing gives me shivers when I watch it, and it's not even real.

[Optimus Prime]

Fake movie trailer? Eh? What?

HBO does great work. I have every confidence they'd do aSoIaF justice.

[Paran]

paladin;317948 said:

it would be better if he just shut up and wrote the damn book instead of giving us tidbits all the time that always need to have an * next to them because they are subject to change. glen cook has a lower profile, but you cant find jack about what hes doing right now or when his next book is due out, and honestly im happy with that over all the drama grrm gives his fans

That's exactly what I meant. Glen Cook keeps a low profile. There's a mangaka named Togashi who writes a cool manga called Hunter X Hunter - he's had illness issues so he takes extended breaks, but he's upfront about it and stays out of the public eye when there's nothing out there. By continually having such a public presence he leaves himself open to the criticism. At least he has a lot of apologists to help him out with the critics, and the sample chapters are encouraging, but the "end of '07", and "definitely by June or I won't be able to go on break (wah!)" now this... well it gets tired.

[Optimus Prime]

He's a glutton for attention. It's pretty obvious that GRRM likes to have his ego stroked. It's cool that you like the NY Giants and all GRRM...but what we really want to see on your blog or update page is this.

"Hi All. Sorry I haven't been around lately, but I have good news. A Dance with Dragons is finished. Enjoy."

[Werthead]

The blog issue is an interesting one. GRRM clearly said his blog was for his life and his website was for his work, so him talking about his football interest and stuff on his blog is appropriate. But the two have gotten intermingled a bit, and he keeps dropping ADWD or other publishing news into his blog rather than his site, so people who don't want to read about football or his other interests end up having to read about them to see if there's any scrap of info about ADWD.

However, I think we do have to be thankful that he hasn't blogged about the US Democratic Primary race, which I know is something he's quite interested in. His blog turns into a total clusterfuck whenever US politics are mentioned.

[caladanbrood]

I look at Martin as the literary version of VGCats - Scott Ransoomair used to churn out consistantly good material at a steady rate, but now new comics are few and far between, nowhere near as good as they used to be, often contributed by guest comics (Wild Cards, anyone?), he gets sidetracked by doing other comics for a while, and he talks constantly about anime conventions he's been to and video games he's playing, which still keeping that ridiculous "Updated Mondays" promise in the title bar that everyone knows he's not going to keep.


Rather a good analogy actually, I'm quite happy with that one.



Of course it will fall apart as soon as aDwD is published, because it will be ass-kickingly awesome I have faith

[Abyss]

Just my 0.02$ but for what it's worth, it's silly to ever, ever, assume that 'the fans' will have any effect on an author's progress. because for every 100 screaming rabid internut fanatics, there are a few thousand who cheerfully buy the books and bugger off til the next one's out.

By way of perfect example, i note that every book Robert Jordan wrote in the WoT series made bestseller lists - even the worse of them. PATH OF DAGGERS, WINTER'S HEART and CROSSROADS..., arguably the worse books of the series, each made a NYT bestseller's list #1. This in spite of droves of negative reviews on amazon and elsewhere. And also they were crap.

Numbers talk, and publishers listen.

GRRM, and his publishers, know that whenever he releases ADD, it will make rocket sales. No amount of 'fans dissing him' is ultimately going to make a difference. Fans not buying the book WOULD make a difference, but who're we kidding. GRRM could stick "Here it is, you stinky living in your parents basements playing AD&D v3.8 and watching hentai juvenile pathetics' on the cover and it would STILL sell tall dollars.

So if GRRM wants to post about football and write his Wildcards stuff and basically not make SIF his priority, he's going to and there's nothing anyone can or will do about it.

- Abyss, will just cross fingers and hope the end result is worth the wait.

[Optimus Prime]

Well said Abyss.

The only fans or possible fans he may have lost during this long hiatus are the fringe fans. Those that either just thought GRRM was a good writer or had just discovered him. Those of us who have been with him near or since the beginning will continue to wait, because it's impossible (at least for me) not to finish a series like aSoIaF. Despite the lackluster effort of aFfC (it wasn't horrible, just not nearly as good as the other 3) I'll buy aDwD.

Like Abyss, I'll just keep my fingers and maybe my legs crossed for extra luck

[Coco with marshmallows]

Xander;318061 said:

Fake movie trailer? Eh? What?

seconded. linky please?

[Sir Thursday]

Cocoreturns;318580 said:

seconded. linky please?

Here you go.

Sir Thursday

[Dagger]

Sir Thursday;318590 said:

Here you go.

Sir Thursday

Your reputation point total makes perfect sense now.

Now someone give us a proper fucking link!

[Coco with marshmallows]

Sir Thursday;318590 said:

Here you go.

Sir Thursday

you utter, utter, utter bastard

[QuickTidal]

Sir Thursday;318590 said:

Here you go.

Sir Thursday

AHAHAHAHAAAAAAA. That was damn hell ass funny! Rep for you!

[QuickTidal]

Werthead;318210 said:

However, I think we do have to be thankful that he hasn't blogged about the US Democratic Primary race, which I know is something he's quite interested in. His blog turns into a total clusterfuck whenever US politics are mentioned.

Yeah, very true.

[Sir Thursday]

Well, if you feel you can still trust me, here's a link which has something a bit more like what you were looking for...the spelling mistake is a bit unfortunate, or else I think it would work much better. At least until you get the clear shots of Eowyn and the RotK battles later on.


Sir Thursday

[caladanbrood]

Yeah, until the bits that are very obviously LotR/Troy/Gladiator, that's pretty good.

[flea]

I have to agree that GRRM looks a bit sickly--I hope there's no coronary in his future.

While I agree that AFFC was the worst, it was interesting in the way it seemed to focus on the women of the series, so at least there was some continuity.

Even though GRRM is among the best at characterization,how many of you dislike the constant descriptions of coat of arms and food?

For that matter, how many find the Dany plot a bit annoying? The cliche of the exotic East gets to me after a while.

Still, the series rocks.

[QuickTidal]

Sir Thursday;318727 said:

Well, if you feel you can still trust me, here's a link which has something a bit more like what you were looking for...the spelling mistake is a bit unfortunate, or else I think it would work much better. At least until you get the clear shots of Eowyn and the RotK battles later on.


Sir Thursday

In the grand scheme of things that is actually a pretty decent fan made trailer. It uses obscure sweeping shots from stuff like The Messenger, Kingdom Of Heaven, Braveheart, and even The Fountain, and it all seems like it could very well be lent to the world of Westeros.


Quite cool actually.

[Werthead]

Quote

I have to agree that GRRM looks a bit sickly--I hope there's no coronary in his future.

I know that GRRM had a health-check last year and was signed off 100% okay on it. I also know he's lost a bit of weight since then. By American standards, he's not that big a guy though

Quote

Even though GRRM is among the best at characterization,how many of you dislike the constant descriptions of coat of arms and food?

ASoIaF is the only series of books I've ever read which has inspired me to go out and have a roast dinner in the pub, so it's not great for my bank balance. The heraldry is vaguely important as it tells you something about the houses. One of the many things about the series that has gone not-very-well-noticed is that the noble families have some elements of their heraldry in their character, which is quite deliberate and may be something expanded on later in the series. The Robert Jordan references in the heraldry were also quite amusing.

Quote

For that matter, how many find the Dany plot a bit annoying? The cliche of the exotic East gets to me after a while.

I don't get the Dany hate. It's not a very large part of the story, although it's going to become more essential as the series proceeds.

If you dislike Dany, I can imagine ADWD being problematic. She has by far the most chapters.