[End of Disc One]

Dust of Dreams is a continuation of Reaper's Gale, so if RG interested you then I don't see why DoD wouldn't. I don't know, giving up after one bad book is just something I can't fathom.

This post has been edited by End of Disc One: 19 April 2010 - 07:54 PM

[McLovin]

Illuyankas, on 19 April 2010 - 07:49 PM, said:

It soured you on the Erikson experience enough to stop wanting to come here?

"Soured" is a bit strong, maybe. Let's just say I don't feel I've much to contribute to the discussion. (And yet I keep posting in this thread...)

[Illuyankas]

It's OK Longhorn, we still love you.

[globish rip]

as annoying as it is having to wait i really dont understand why erikson hasnt slowed down the pace of his writing and worked on tightening up the last few novels. there seems to be a consistent habit for flaws in a series to magnify over time and giving himself some distance in btw books might allow him to see what works and what doesnt more clearly

[McLovin]

End of Disc One, on 19 April 2010 - 07:53 PM, said:

giving up after one bad book is just something I can't fathom.

Not to get pedantic or self-pitying, but when your pleasure reading time is confined to the 30 minutes between when your kids pass out for the night and you pass out for the night, you want that time to be quality. Long gone are the days I see a book/series through to the end, no matter what. Just not enough time...

[Illuyankas]

Earplugs, duct tape. Problem solved.

[Illuyankas]

eng lng rip, on 19 April 2010 - 08:11 PM, said:

as annoying as it is having to wait i really dont understand why erikson hasnt slowed down the pace of his writing and worked on tightening up the last few novels. there seems to be a consistent habit for flaws in a series to magnify over time and giving himself some distance in btw books might allow him to see what works and what doesnt more clearly

He's going to be slowing his pace down by about 50% after The Crippled God comes out, for the two trilogies after that.

[Werthead]

eng lng rip, on 19 April 2010 - 08:11 PM, said:

as annoying as it is having to wait i really dont understand why erikson hasnt slowed down the pace of his writing and worked on tightening up the last few novels. there seems to be a consistent habit for flaws in a series to magnify over time and giving himself some distance in btw books might allow him to see what works and what doesnt more clearly

I think his original contract with Bantam called for a book per year in order for him to get his full (and still record-breaking) advance, so he has to churn out the books quickly to get paid. That's why he can slow down after The Crippled God, as that marks the completion of his original 1998 contract with Transworld Bantam and he's onto the new contract (which specifies a book every 18 months, I understand).

[WhiskeyJackDaniels]

Werthead, on 20 April 2010 - 10:32 PM, said:

eng lng rip, on 19 April 2010 - 08:11 PM, said:

as annoying as it is having to wait i really dont understand why erikson hasnt slowed down the pace of his writing and worked on tightening up the last few novels. there seems to be a consistent habit for flaws in a series to magnify over time and giving himself some distance in btw books might allow him to see what works and what doesnt more clearly

I think his original contract with Bantam called for a book per year in order for him to get his full (and still record-breaking) advance, so he has to churn out the books quickly to get paid. That's why he can slow down after The Crippled God, as that marks the completion of his original 1998 contract with Transworld Bantam and he's onto the new contract (which specifies a book every 18 months, I understand).

His contract specifies when he has to come out with books? Also how much was it? I'm curious that it was record breaking before he even started coming out with books. That's interesting. Its too bad that little caveat wasn't added into grrm's contract.

[Werthead]

WhiskeyJackDaniels, on 21 April 2010 - 12:08 AM, said:

His contract specifies when he has to come out with books? Also how much was it? I'm curious that it was record breaking before he even started coming out with books. That's interesting. Its too bad that little caveat wasn't added into grrm's contract.

£650,000 for ten books, which was about $900,000 in 1998 money (or about twice the previous record for a debut fantasy author, previously held by Terry Goodkind). GRRM's contract for ASoIaF was huge, maybe even in the same ballpark, but was only for three books. What the renegotiations after ASoS entailed, I don't know, but if there was a bonus for speedy completion, I think we can safely say that went out the window many years ago The cheque he got from HBO must have more than made up for it though.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 21 April 2010 - 11:00 AM

[Paran]

Looking at events, I'm pretty sure the speedy completion part for GRRM was only for the original 3 books ;p He must have had a lot of bargaining power after the success he received there and no doubt put it to good use. 10 years on for both authors, I wonder if publishers are willing to make the same leap of faith these days considering the cases of Rothfuss, Lynch or on the flip side Abercrombie?

[Werthead]

Paran, on 22 April 2010 - 01:09 AM, said:

Looking at events, I'm pretty sure the speedy completion part for GRRM was only for the original 3 books ;p He must have had a lot of bargaining power after the success he received there and no doubt put it to good use. 10 years on for both authors, I wonder if publishers are willing to make the same leap of faith these days considering the cases of Rothfuss, Lynch or on the flip side Abercrombie?

Well, GRRM took nine years to write the first three books, so they were never being produced at an Erikson pace. However, Martin did sell the series a lot later (when the first book, or what would become the first book, was pretty much done and he was well into the second), allowing the first three to come out relatively quickly. This is similar to Jordan's situation, where he was early in writing Book 3 when Book 1 came out, allowing the first six books to come out at yearly intervals before they caught up with his writing.

His plan was to put out Book 4 in 2002 or 2003 and the rest at 2-3 year intervals, something reiterated in many post-ASoS interviews, so I'm guessing any timeframe in the contract was on that basis, and if so he quite spectacularly failed to hit them. Whether there were bonuses attached to the timeframe, or the timeframe formed part of the contract for the advance, is unknown.

Publishers are mostly concerned with getting paid. If Rothfuss' second, Lynch's third or ASoIaF's fifth book come out and are big sellers, the publishers aren't too concerned that it took four or five years for them to come out, although they'd prefer it to be quicker.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 22 April 2010 - 10:11 AM

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I still haven't finished DoD. In fact, I haven't read ANYTHING since that book came out. I haven't gone this long without reading a new book since I learned to read. I have too much respect for the series to start something else before I finish it , but somehow can't get motivated to read. I've been on page 372 for months now. It's odd, because I actually was enjoying the book more than the last two. The series has ground to a halt for me. The real question is what I'm going to do if the next book comes out and I still haven't finished this one.

@Terez: OK, not a theory, then an opinion. It is NOT fact that he subverts cliches. It is fact that he attempts to do so, but determining if he succeeded or not is matter of personal opinion. I lean towards the "No, not subverted" camp. Farmboy fantasy is still farmboy fantasy even if the farmboy has a rough time of it. I really don't want to argue about this though, I know you love RJ and have no desire to bait you, I just don't share the same opinions of him as you do.

[EsotericForest]

Beside that fact that both Erikson, and Martin have climbed above the average stagnant water which is your typical fantasy novel...I don't think they have very much in common. They have different writing styles, completely different storylines, and a completely different ways of delivering the story.

Jordan I think is overated...the reason I think he's so popular is because he's the reason so many of us (Not myself included) got into fantasy in the first place. I read the first book in his series and wasn't impressed...so I haven't gone back for more. I have better things to read

[Baudinsballs]

eng lng rip public/style_images/malazan/user_popup.png

Less talking LYK DIS and more actually wriiting the actual words please.
I so wanted to read this thread as I like Erikson and Martin. But everytime I saw your posts I couldn't help but think. "Damn this guy failed english and had to stop."
Is it too much to ask that you spend that extra second to write the full word?
and

there seems to be a consistent habit for flaws in a series to magnify over time and giving himself some distance in btw books might allow him to see what works and what doesnt more clearly

in by the way books? Makes no sense.
I'm sorry guys if this breaks a rule or something but......y'know.

This post has been edited by Baudinsballs: 26 April 2010 - 09:53 PM

[Nicodimas]

Hmm for me its:

Tier One Writers:
Martin, Erikson, Jordan,King<i loved it!>


Tier Two:

Bakker, Donaldson, Le Guin, Williams

Tier Three:

R.A. Salvadore and Margret Weiss and Tracy Hickman.
I had to give DragonLance and Drizzt credit as these were authors I read first!
I could keep going as I am sure I left someone out.

Oh Martin is never going to finish if you haven't picked that up.