[Aptorian]

After posting an extract from GRRMs Mystery Knight, the comment section got a bit heated, resulting in this little gem by Pat:

http://www.fantasyho...t.blogspot.com/

Quote

Are you fucking kidding me???? Am I running a day care??? I've been running this blog for more than 5 years, and it's the first time I've been forced to disable the comment function.:\

To the GRRM haters and the trolls out there, do everyone a favor and stop reading anything Martin writes. There's enough good SFF material to keep everyone happy, I believe. And yes, a little maturity would go a long way. . .

Never thought I'd be saying this, but you are even worst than the brainwashed Goodkind fans on the Yeard's forums. And Christ, that's saying something!=( As a matter of fact, you make Mystar sound like the Voice of Reason and the Soul of Wisdom. . .

I would like to believe that this is the work of pimply anti-social teenagers who get pick on at school and whose sex lives amount to downloading porn every night. But my gut tells me that it's from "responsible" adults. . .

Come on, man. . .

Here's a link to the comment section: https://www.blogger....116664707637534

[Abyss]

That's right Pat!!! You tell em!

- Abyss, ...liked the Yeard ref'...

[Illuyankas]

Some of the comments - that is, the ones that weren't stuff like 'George $$ Martin is our bitch', for instance - were pretty funny. Also I wonder how many times that one dude said sycophant.

[Hetan]

Poor Pat - fancy having to take the comments section offline. I'm not a Martin fan myself so I don't feel the wrath that others do - but it does seem to be pretty intense.
I just think it's a shame that they chose to spill their vitriol on Pat's blog, when the guy is only trying to facilitate others.

[Ulrik]

I like Song of Ice and Fire, but if GRRM decides to stop series, Ill laugh those ***...
Its absurd... even if its only bunch of teenagers in internet anonymity... but we know that it isnt...

[amphibian]

This kind of stuff is probably the work of three or four people with multiple aliases and entirely too much free time. It's a shame and that kind of behavior is unacceptable.

I read through a few of the thread's hundreds of comments and one thing I noticed was that Gabriele C (or something similar) kicked things off with a shot at the trolls. Provoking them isn't a good idea.

Pat, if you're reading this, take down your angry rant against the trolls. A response should be measured, effective at laying out what exactly is wrong and free of grammatical errors.

[caladanbrood]

I imagine/hope they'll move on soon enough. Some of them were pretty funny though, it's true.

[Terez]

I read through some of it. After a while it started to get really repetitive and boring.

I'd like him to finish the series, but it's not as if I'll go crazy waiting for the end (I even have patience with WoT, but if RJ had ever acted this way with WoT, I'd have probably gotten really depressed). He can finish it whenever he finishes it and I'll be happy. But if he decides not to finish it, I won't blame him. His aSoIaF fans and 'ex-fans' are some of the most hateful people I've come across on the internet. Do they really think all of the bitching is going to make him write faster? I think that, if not for them, we'd have a book by now.

[caladanbrood]

The idea that he's delaying it out of spite is amusingly satisfying

[Illuyankas]

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more people who got bored of waiting and gave up on the series without being so vocal about it then these guys. They're his books, it's up to him how he treats his fans, the vast - VAST - majority of which aren't whining asshats.

[HoosierDaddy]

That was.... interesting reading.

Don't you love the fact that we can damn near guarantee The Crippled God this year?

[Tsundoku]

H.D., on 26 January 2010 - 10:48 PM, said:

That was.... interesting reading.

Don't you love the fact that we can damn near guarantee The Crippled God this year?

Oh great, now you've done it - the kiss of death.

[MTS]

...wow. I've seen GRRM rants before, but that was atrocious. Pat was justified in losing it, but all it does is fan the flames...

[acesn8s]

Mappo, on 27 January 2010 - 01:33 PM, said:

...wow. I've seen GRRM rants before, but that was atrocious. Pat was justified in losing it, but all it does is fan the flames...

I agree. The feeling of entitlement a lot of the detractors were expressing just amazed me.

While I understand their frustration, I cannot fathom how they think he owes them anything. They bought a product, not a piece of his soul. We are customers, not shareholders or investors.

[Traveller]

Yeah, people who liked the books should be pleased with what they've got. Those that didn't think much of 'em..well, don't read them.

These crazies demanding that he spends his whole life writing for their enjoyment (or so they can finish it in a day and then say, 'well that wasn't as good as the last one') really have no idea. He doesn't owe anyone anything,
and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd finished it ages ago, but no longer wanted to publish now he's seen what some of his readers are like.

[Tsundoku]

It would be interesting to see what his contract with his publisher consists of. Deadlines for certain products, or deadlines for any product, or no deadlines at all ...

All I know is if I promised delivery to those who were paying me (who had met their side of the bargain) by a certain date, and constantly put it off for various "quality-related" reasons, I'd be sued/fired/justifiably castigated. I'm not talking about the buying public, I'm talking about his publishers. True, they know that if they sued or dumped him he could take his bat and ball and play elsewhere, assured some other publishing house would be prepared to gamble on his output.

Actually, what sort of contracts are common in the publishing world? Something that would have to take into account writers block and other delivery impediments, I'd guess.

[MTS]

The thing is though, GRRM is still putting out other material, and it's selling well from what I can tell, so would they really want to risk alienating him?

[Tsundoku]

Mappo, on 30 January 2010 - 06:32 AM, said:

The thing is though, GRRM is still putting out other material, and it's selling well from what I can tell, so would they really want to risk alienating him?

Hence my reference to any product.

This post has been edited by Sombra: 30 January 2010 - 07:13 AM

[MTS]

Well, the contract might include ASOIAF-related product rather than the novels themselves I guess. I just didn't think publishing houses would give out contracts that said 'give us anything by this date.'

[Pilgrim]

I'm anxiously awaiting Dance like many Martin fans, and was seriously pissed when I took the "release date" seriously when I saw it on Amazon 2 years ago, and proceeded to reread the whole series in anticipation, but I understand that the creative process is what it is and an artist is entitled to do whatever he feels necessary to perfect his product. I hope this series finds it's conclusion, but I wouldn't blame Martin one bit if he did give his "fans" the proverbial finger after all this ridiculous ranting and raving that's taken place over the past couple of years.

The book's gonna come out, and I'm sure it will be incredible, and I believe that after this one, the rest will be much faster in production, as he has had plenty of time to work out the remainder of the series. And yes, I'm infinitely grateful that I'm an Erikson fan, as he's positively the Old Faithful of fantasy authors.